Copper-catalyzed one-pot three-component thioamination of 1,4-naphthoquinone

Abstract

A concise one-pot three-component thioamination of 1,4-naphthoquinone with thiols and amines was developed to synthesize 2-amino-3-thio-1,4-naphthoquinones. The approach employed CuI as the catalyst and ambient O₂ as the green oxidant, giving a series of thioaminated 1,4-naphthoquinones in moderate to good yields. This catalytic approach represents a step-economic and convenient strategy for the difunctionalization of 1,4-naphthoquinones.