Alkoxysulfenylation of alkenes: development and recent advances

Among the wide variety of synthetic transformations of inexpensive and abundant feedstock alkenes, vicinal difunctionalization of carbon–carbon double bonds represent one of the most powerful and effective strategies for the introduction of two distinct functional groups into target compounds in a one-pot process. In this context, the direct alkoxysulfenylation of alkenes has emerged as an elegant method to construct valuable β-alkoxy sulfides in an atom- and pot-economic manner utilizing readily accessible starting materials. Here, we review the available literature on this appealing research topic by hoping that it will be beneficial for eliciting further research and thinking in this domain.