Iodine-catalyzed addition of 2-mercaptoethanol to chalcone derivatives: Synthesis of the novel β-mercapto carbonyl compounds

In this study, a series of novel β-mercapto carbonyl derivatives (3-(2-hydroxyethylthio)-1,3-diarylpropan-1-one) (5a-i) were prepared by addition of 2-mercaptoethanol (4) to chalcones (3a-i) in the presence of catalytic amount of iodine (10 mol %) in CH 2Cl 2.