Dibenzothiophene sulfur elimination

Reduction of dibenzothiophene with sodium in liquid ammonia has been shown to be sensitive to the experimental methods employed however, the major product is usually 1,4-dihydrodibenzothiophene. 27 -28i The electrochemical reduction of dibenzothiophene in ethylene-diamine-lithium chloride solution has been shown to proceed via stepwise reduction of the aromatic nucleus followed by sulfur elimination. In contrast to the reduction of dibenzothiophene with sodium in liquid ammonia, lithium in ethylenediamine, or calcium hexamine in ether, electrolytic reduction produced no detectable thiophenol intermediates. Reduction of dibenzothiophene with calcium hexamine furnished o-cyclohexylthiophenol as the major product (77%). Polaro-graphic reduction of dibenzothiophene 5,5-dioxide has shown a four-electron transfer to occur corresponding to reduction of the sulfone group and a further site. ... 

The reactions involving the hydrogenolysis of sulfur compounds encountered in hydroprocessing are exothermic and thermodynamically complete under ordinary operating conditions. The various molecules have very different reactivity, with mercaptan sulfur much easier to eliminate than thiophene sulfur or dibenzothiophene sulfur. 

In contrast with the relatively facile thermal rearrangement of sulfinates to sulfones discussed in the preceding section, the reverse process is relatively, rarely encountered and is usually observed only at elevated temperatures. One of the first thermal sulfone to sulfinate isomerizations has been invoked by Fields and Meyerson to occur during the pyrolysis of dibenzothiophene S, S-dioxide (26) to dibenzofuran, through elimination of sulfur monoxide from the sultine intermediate 27 (equation 27). More recently, the flash vapor-phase pyrolysis of various 2,5-dialkyl and diaryl thiophene-S, S-dioxides has also been shown to involve SO extrusion and formation of the corresponding furans in good yields . 

Benzyne generated from 2-carboxybenzenediazonium chloride reacted with sulfur monochloiide to give dibenzothiophene 13 (8-10%) and thiantherene 14 (26-35%) (1989SUL83). A mechanism involving the addition of sulfur mono-chloride to benzyne with the formation of betaine 15 followed by the elimination of SCI2 to afford benzothiirene 16 and a further reaction with another benzyne molecule or dimerization to thianthrene 14 is given in Scheme 8. 

Sulfur removal is accomplished directly by a hydrogenolysis mechanism or indirectly by prior hydrogenation. Figure 13.6 shows the two possible pathways for dibenzothiophene HDS. In the direct route, the S-atom is eliminated and replaced by hydrogen. The other mechanism requires saturation of one... 

Analogous G-S bond activation of benzothiophene and dibenzothiophene, bonded to Mn(GO)3, leads to metalla-cyclic compounds with Pt-G and Pt-S bonds 430 and 431. " The reaction of methylbenzothiophene occurs regioselectively to yield a single product, which undergoes slow elimination of a GO ligand and coordination of sulfur to the Mn center. 

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