Synthesis of organosulfides using transition-metal-catalyzed substitution reactions: To construct exergonic reactions employing metal inorganic and organic co-substrate/co-product methods

A catalyst changes the course of a reaction without affecting the relative thermodynamic stability of substrates and products, and a catalytic reaction must be exergonic in order to obtain high yields of the product and to attain reasonable reaction rates. In the case that the desired reaction is in equilibrium or is endergonic, devices for making products thermodynamically more stable than substrates are needed. In this review, the transition-metal- catalyzed synthesis of organosulfides using a substitution reaction is summarized, where metal inorganic and organic co-substrate/co-product methods are used in developing exergonic reactions.