An Environmentally Friendly Strategy for One-pot Synthesis of Dithiocarbamates Using Ceric Ammonium Nitrate (CAN) and PEG: H2O Solvent System

It is reported that dithiocarbamates can be produced effectively, conveniently, simply, and selectively in a single reaction vessel. Accordingly, aryl/alkyl halides are coupled to the in situ produced dithiocarbamate anion utilizing a highly inventive catalytic system consisting of ceric ammonium nitrate (CAN) and polyethylene glycol (PEG-400: H2O) in a favourable reaction medium. The advantages of this new technology over previously reported methods include low costs, high product yields, rapid reaction times, easy access to an ecologically friendly catalytic system, and PEG’s capacity to be recycled. All synthesized dithiocarbamates were characterized by FT-IR, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, and ESI-MS Mass spectra.