A simple, efficient, eco-friendly and catalyst-free procedure was developed for the construction of trisubstituted tetrahydrothiophenes via sulfa-Michael/aldol (Henry) cascade reaction in water. The protocol, simply utilizing readily-available starting materials under clean reaction conditions, provided an alternative and highly attractive approach to a series of tetrahydrothiophene derivatives from a wide range of substrates in good yields (up to 93%) with excellent diastereoselectivities (up to >99 : 1).

Catalyst-Free Synthesis of Trisubstituted Tetrahydrothiophenes in Water via a Cascade Sulfa-Michael/Aldol (Henry) Type Reaction. -Title compounds are synthesized by a facile, highly atom-efficient, and eco-friendly procedure in excellent diastereoselectivities, in general. -(SONG, J.; MOSS, J.; YANG, D.-C.; GUAN, Z.; HE*, Y.-H.; RSC Adv. 4 (2014) 96, 54032-54038, http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C4RA06273F ; Sch. Chem. Chem. Eng., Southwest Univ., Chongqing, Sichuan 400715, Peop. Rep. China; Eng.) -R. Langenstrassen