Emerging Trends in Using Thiuram Disulfides as Promising Amine and Thiocarbamoyl Sources for Facile Amidation and Thioamidation Reactions

Recently, thiuram disulfides have received significant attention as versatile organosulfur reagents for the preparation of biologically active organic dithiocarbamates, thiocarbamates, and heterocycles, despite their widespread industrial applications as rubber vulcanizing accelerators, fungicides, and pharmaceuticals. Notably, these reagents have also garnered considerable attention as neutral, odorless, air‐stable, inexpensive, readily available, easy‐to‐handle, and safer amine surrogates for direct amidation of carboxylic acids, as well as suitable thiocarbamoyl sources for thioamidation reactions. These unconventional methods, employing various tetraalkylthiuram disulfides, offer several advantages, including high efficiency, operational simplicity, selectivity, scalability, cost‐efficiency, and compatibility with several green chemistry principles, such as the use of green solvents, renewable energy sources, safer reagents, solvent‐free, metal‐free, and milder reaction conditions. Consequently, these contemporary approaches offer greener, energy‐ and cost‐effective, and sustainable alternatives to conventional strategies for direct amidation and thioamidation. This review provides an overview of recent advances in the development of efficient, facile, and convenient strategies for direct amidation and thioamidation reactions using tetraalkylthiuram disulfides as viable amine and thiocarbamoyl surrogates, along with mechanistic insights.