Copper-catalyzed alkynyldisulfuration of arynes: efficient access to unsymmetrical disulfides†

This article investigates a copper-catalyzed alkynyl disulfuration reaction of arynes formed in situ that generates o-alkynyl aryl disulfides. The transformation proceeds through the in situ generation of arynes, followed by alkynylation under copper catalysis and disulfuration with a disulfide reagent, which results in the formation of one C–C bond and one C–SS bond in one pot under mild conditions. The reaction above can be readily employed to facilitate the introduction of a disulfide group and aryl alkynes into an aryne and thus provide a modular approach towards unsymmetrical disulfides.