Fabrication of Cu(I) NPs on PEI-Modified Resin: An Efficient and Reusable Heterogeneous Catalyst for Selective Construction of Diaryl Sulfides Versus Diaryl Disulfides

Abstract

The synergistic combination of solvent, base, and Cu-PEI@PS catalyst was reported to selectively synthesize diaryl sulfides and diaryl disulfides from aryl iodides and elemental sulfur (S₈). The heterogeneous catalyst Cu-PEI@PS forms through the coordination loading of Cu(I) onto the prepared PS-PEI carrier and has been fully characterized by FT-IR, XPS, SEM, EDS, TEM, TGA, BET, and ICP-OES. The catalyst is recyclable and highly effective in mediating the C-S coupling reactions. A wide range of diaryl sulfides and disulfides with various functional groups could be obtained in moderate to excellent yields. Additionally, controlling experiments demonstrate the different mechanisms underlying the generation of these sulfides/disulfides.