The broad application value of organosulfur compounds has made the efficient and highly selective construction of carbon-sulfur (C—S) bonds a key research focus in synthetic chemistry. In recent years, significant progress has been made in cobalt-catalyzed C—S bond formation, leveraging the advantages of cobalt as an earth-abundant element. To a large extent, this progress is attributed to the inherent advantages of cobalt’s natural abundance, low cost, variable oxidation states, and relatively low biotoxicity. These features enable efficient sulfurization reactions under mild conditions, achieve excellent chemo-selectivity and functional group tolerance, and even facilitate the discovery of novel reaction mechanisms. This review systematically summarizes the latest advances in cobalt-catalyzed C—S bond formation over the past five years, covering synthetic methods for various organosulfur compounds including thioethers, sulfones, sulfur-containing heterocycles, sulfoxides, sulfinamides, disulfides, and thiols. It highlights the research background, substrate scope, and reaction pathways, and offers perspectives on future developments in this field.

Key words: cobalt catalysis, C—S bond construction, sulfurization reaction, organosulfur