The dithiocarbamate skeleton is one of the most important sulfur-containing organic frameworks, showing various biological activities such as anticancer [
1,
2], anti-infection [
3], antibacterial [
4], and antitumor properties (
Scheme 1A) [
5]. Furthermore, dithiocarbamates are also widely used as versatile synthetic building blocks in organic synthesis [
6]. In light of their widespread utilities, the development of novel and convenient methods for the synthesis of these useful sulfur-containing compounds continues to motivate a large number of scientists. The classical approaches toward
S-aryl dithiocarbamates are the reaction of amines with thiophenols and thiophosgene or the treatment of isothiocyanates with thiophenols [
7,
8]. Recently, copper-catalyzed Ullmann-type coupling between iodoarenes or aryl boronic acids with sodium dialkyldithiocarbamates or tetraalkylthiuram disulfides has also been developed for the preparation of
S-aryl dithiocarbamates [
9-
13]. For example, Bolm and Dong demonstrated an elegant copper-catalyzed system towards
S-aryl dithiocarbamates using commercially available thiuram disulfide reagents [
14]. Nevertheless, most of these methods still involve the use of toxic metal catalysts, special ligands, multi-step synthetic sequences, or harsh reaction conditions, which would limit their practical utility. Therefore, the development of an efficient, facile, and eco-friendly approach to
S-aryl dithiocarbamates is still highly desirable. As a practical organic synthesis strategy, multicomponent reactions (MCRs) have attracted extensive attention because it improves the atomic economy and step economy of the reaction process, thus minimizing pollution and reducing costs [
15,
16]. In 2008, Ranu and co-workers reported an efficient method for the synthesis of
S-aryl dithiocarbamates through copper nanoparticle-catalyzed three component condensation of arylhalides, carbon disulfide and amines in water (
Scheme 1B) [
17]. In 2016, Qi
et al. demonstrated a similar process utilizing aryl boronic acids as the aryl reagents by copper catalysis (
Scheme 1B) [
18]. Very recently, Murarka and Singh developed an elegant multicomponent coupling between diaryliodonium triflates, amines, and carbon disulfide for the preparation of
S-aryl dithiocarbamates under mild conditions (
Scheme 1B) [
19]. Furthermore, Biju and Jindal reported a facile method for the synthesis of
S-aryl dithiocarbamates by three-component coupling of arynes, CS
2 and aliphatic amines under metal-free conditions (
Scheme 1B) [
20]. Although great achievements have been made, developing an alternative approach to
S-aryl dithiocarbamates with high efficiency and generality is still of great interest.