Recent progress in developing thioether-containing ligands for catalysis applications.

The ligand that stabilizes the metal center is crucial to its catalytic activity. Historically dominated by phosphorus and nitrogen, sulfur has long been little considered as a hetero element for stabilizing a potentially active metal center. However, this situation is changing and we are seeing more and more examples that incorporate this element. This review provides an overview of recent transition metal-catalyzed reactions with ligands containing neutral sulfur groups, i.e. thioethers. A selection of examples published over the last decade illustrates the diversity of applications of thioether-containing ligands and shows that sulfur should be more widely used in the development of homogeneous catalysis.