Abstract
Recently, polyethylene glycols (PEGS) of various molecular weights have been proposed as solvent promoters for various reactions 1, 2. We wish to report on the use of PEG 400 as solvent for the anionic activation of potassium thioacetate, which could be used for the preparation of alkyl and benzyl thioacetates from the corresponding halides or alcohol derivatives. The method can be synthetically significant, since from thioacetates the corresponding thiols can be easily prepared under a variety of mild conditions 3.