Aryl thiocyanates, reduction

More decisive evidence is provided by the interconvertibility of N-aryl-JV-arylamidinothioureas (28) and Hector s bases by oxidation-reduction.63, B4,67b The former compounds are accessible (as salts) (i) by the condensation of arylthioureas (24) with arylcyanamides (23),63 (ii) by the extrusion of sulfur from the recently described40,41 s-diaryldithioformamidine hydrobromidesB4a (22), (tit) by the oxidation of arylthioureas (24) with 0.5 moles of hydrogen peroxide in the presence of mineral acids,B4a and (iv) by the mild reduction of Hector s bases by hydrogen sulfide in acid media.B4a The first of these four reactions limitB the structure of the products to the three alternatives 25, 28, and 30. Of these, 25 is excluded by the non-identity of the product with authentic67 N-phenyl-i -phenylamidinothiourea (25 R = Ph). The monosulfide structure (30) is not reconciled as readily with the observedB4a hydrolytic fission of the products into diaryl-guanidines (29) and thiocyanic acid as is structure 28. Indeed, as in the case of thioamides and nitriles (see Section II, C, 1), the present condensation may involve the primary formation of an intermediate diimido-monosulfide (30) and its isomerization to 28. 

Reduction. The near-quantitative reduction of Hector s bases to s-diarylguanidines under various conditions34-30 53, 55 is well established. Milder reduction, by hydrogen sulfide at 26°, gives excellent yields of A-aryl-A-arylamidinothioureas (28),54a obviously by the familiar preferential fission of the heterocycle at the S—N(2) bond (see Section III,D,1) since these amidinothioureas (28) are cleaved to s-diarylguanidines and thiocyanic acid under the mildest hydrolytic conditions,54 their primary formation in aM reductions of Hector s bases is probable.54 ... 

Titanium(IV) chloride and titanocene dichloride have catalytic effects on the reduction, e.g., in the transformation of alkyl thiocyanates to dialkyl disulfides and nitroarenes to aryl amines, respectively. 

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