Oxidative Dehydrosulfurative Cross-Coupling of 3,4-Dihydropyrimidine-2-thiones with Alkynes for Access to 2-Alkynylpyrimidines

A reaction method is described for the one-step synthesis of 2-alkynylpyrimidines from 3,4-dihydropyrimidin-1H-2-thiones (DHPMs) via dehydrosulfurative Sonogashira cross-coupling with concomitant oxidative dehydrogenation using a Pd/Cu catalytic system. Together with the ready availability of DHPMs possessing various substituents at the C4-C6 positions, this transformation offers rapid and general access to diverse 2-alkynylpyrimidine derivatives.