The stereoselective disulfidation of alkynes remains a compelling yet challenging transformation in organic chemistry. In this study, we report a visible light‐induced radical disulfidation of alkynes for the synthesis of ( E )‐vinyl sulfides. In contrast to previous methods that proceed through nucleophilic or metal‐mediated alkyne insertion pathways, this protocol operates via a rarely explored radical mechanism under mild, metal‐free conditions. A broad range of alkynes and thiols are well tolerated, affording ( E )‐vinyl sulfides selectively. This one‐pot strategy provides a green and atom‐economical approach to stereodefined ( E )‐vinyl sulfide scaffolds.
Sujith et al. (Tue,) studied this question.