Chem Sci Trans., 2013, 2(3), 691-700 Chemical Science Transactions DOI:10.7598/cst2013.386 ISSN/E-ISSN: 2278-3458/2278-3318 A Brief on Thiocyanation of N-Activated Arenes and N-Bearing Heteroaromatic Compounds KOBRA NIKOOFAR Department of Chemistry, School of Sciences, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran knikoofar@yahoo.com Received 17 September 2012 / Accepted 20 October 2012 Abstract: Methods for the thiocyanation of N-activeted arenes (arylamines and anilines) and N- bearing heteroaromatic compounds (indoles, indolines, pyrroles, carbazoles, quinolines, isatins and oxindoles) have been discussed in this article. The general procedure which has been reported is using an oxidant/thiocyanation agent system. Based on oxidant type the methods classified on 6 parts. At the end the mechanistic aspects of the route have been discussed. Keywords: Thiocyanation, Indoles, Anilines, Pyrroles Introduction Aryl thiocyanates are the versatile and valuable class of organic compounds. Thiocyanate motif is potential in organic and bioorganic chemistry. Besides this reality, the notability of thiocyanates can be considered from other aspects. First, it is very significant because of its ability to transform to various sulfur-bearing functional groups such as sulfides 1 , thioesters 2 , thiophenols 3 , cyanothiolates which lead to thionitrile synthesis 4 , thiosulfonates (thiotosylates) 5 , thiols and S-acetylates 6 and thiocarbamates 7 . Second, it is a key intermediate for the synthesis of heterocyclic compounds such as thiazoles and thiazinones 8-10 , which are precursors of agrichemicals (for example wood preservative), dyes and drugs 11 . Third, combination of this motif with other substrates yields the other chemicals, as the cross- coupling desulfurization of aryl thiocyanates also used as a cyanide-free source for the cyanation of arylboronic acids to nitriles 12 . Most of the mentioned application of the thiocyante moiety have been observed when it is used as a functional group on N-bearing (hetero) arene compounds. Also thiocyanate group can be hold on other chemicals (ketones, alkenes and etc.) but the N-baring chemicals with thiocyanate motif have excessive key applications. Nitrogen occurs in all living organisms, primarily in amino acids and thus proteins and in the nucleic acids (DNA and RNA). It is a defining component of alkaloids and is used in key ingredients of industrial fertilizers 13 . So because of wide range application of N-bearing thiocyanated chemicals, we are interested in centralization of this review article on thiocyanating processes of N- arenes and N-heteroaromatics compounds. In most cases these compounds contain medicinal and pharmaceutical properties. For example, Pezzalla et al. reported that some REVIEW ARTICLE