Potassium thioacetate is an organosulfur compound and a salt with the formula . This white, water-soluble solid is used as a reagent for preparing thioacetate esters and other derivatives.
Potassium thioacetate, which is commercially available, can be prepared by combining acetyl chloride and potassium hydrosulfide:
It arises also by the neutralisation of thioacetic acid with potassium hydroxide.
In a common application, potassium thioacetate is combined with alkylating agents to give thioacetate esters (X = halide):
One example is ethyl thioacetate. Hydrolysis of these esters affords thiols:
The thioacetate esters can also undergo cleavage with methanethiol in the presence of stoichiometric base, as illustrated in the preparation of pent-4-yne-1-thiol: