Selectfluor™ F-TEDA-BF4 mediated thiocyanation or isothiocyanation of alcohols by in situ generation of [+SCN] under heterogeneous and neutral conditions

A convenient approach for thiocyanation of alcohols has been developed using ammonium thiocyanate as thiocyanating agent in the presence of a catalytic amount of Selectfluor™ F-TEDA-BF4 in aqueous acetonitrile. In this method various alcohols generally afforded the corresponding thiocyanates or isothiocyanates directly in good to high yield under heterogeneous and neutral conditions.