100 g of S-(2,4-dimethylphenyl)ethylthioate was suspended in 500 ml of degassed toluene. Under nitrogen protection, Pd(dba)2 (3.25 g, 0.006 mol), rac-BINAP (6.4 g, 0.01 mol) and sodium tert-butoxide (62.5 g, 0.65 mol) were added sequentially. After warming the reaction mixture to 45-55 °C, 2-iodo-1-bromobenzene (165 g, 0.583 mol) was slowly added dropwise. Subsequently, the reaction system was warmed to 90-100 °C under nitrogen atmosphere and kept at this temperature for 3 hours. After completion of the reaction, it was cooled to room temperature, 400 ml of water was added and stirred for 15-20 minutes. After static layering, the organic phase was separated and concentrated under reduced pressure to give a viscous oily material, which was the target product (2-bromophenyl)(2,4-dimethylphenyl)thiolane (162 g, 100% yield).