Sulfur dioxide, extrusion

The methiodide of 2,5-dihydrothiophene (239) is transformed in high yield to Z)-l-(methylthio)buta-l,3-diene (240) on treatment with alkali (81AJC1017). The thermal cheletropic extrusion of sulfur dioxide from both cis and trans isomers of 2,5-dihy-drothiophene 1,1-dioxides is highly stereospecific. For example, c/5-2,5-dimethyl-2,5-dihydrothiophene 1,1-dioxide (241) yields ( , )-hexa-2,4-diene (242) and sulfur dioxide (75JA3666, 75JA3673). 

S.06.3.2.1 Extrusion of sulfur, sulfur monoxide or sulfur dioxide... 

Thiirane 1,1-dioxides extrude sulfur dioxide readily (70S393) at temperatures usually in the range 50-100 °C, although some, such as c/s-2,3-diphenylthiirane 1,1-dioxide or 2-p-nitrophenylthiirane 1,1-dioxide, lose sulfur dioxide at room temperature. The extrusion is usually stereospeciflc (Scheme 10) and a concerted, non-linear chelotropic expulsion of sulfur dioxide or a singlet diradical mechanism in which loss of sulfur dioxide occurs faster than bond rotation may be involved. The latter mechanism is likely for episulfones with substituents which can stabilize the intermediate diradical. The Ramberg-Backlund reaction (B-77MI50600) in which a-halosulfones are converted to alkenes in the presence of base, involves formation of an episulfone from which sulfur dioxide is removed either thermally or by base (Scheme 11). A similar conversion of a,a -dihalosulfones to alkenes is effected by triphenylphosphine. Thermolysis of a-thiolactone (5) results in loss of carbon monoxide rather than sulfur (Scheme 12). 

Sulfenyl chlondes react with allyl alcohols to yield allyl sulfenates, whtch are in equihbnum with the allyl sulfoxides [12] (equation 9a) These products can be oxidized to the corresponding sulfones (equation 9b) Pyrolysis of the sulfoxides gives sulfines or evidence for the presence of sulfmes Pyrolysis of sulfones leads to unsamrated compounds by extrusion of sulfur dioxide [12] (equation 9c)... 

Cava and Schlessinger have reported the synthesis of 1,2,3-triphenyl-isoindole (65) in 78% yield from 1,3-diphenylisobenzofuran (68) hy reaction with thionylaniline (69) and boron trifluoride. The mechanism proposed for this remarkable transformation involves reaiTangement of the adduct (70) derived from thionylaniline and the isobenzofuran, to the tricyclic intermediate (71). This presumably collapses to the S-sultam (72), which yields the isoindole (65) upon extrusion of sulfur dioxide. Loss of sulfur dioxide, both from S-sultones and unsaturated S-sultams, is well documented. ... 

Treatment of an a-halosulfone 1 with base leads to extrusion of sulfur dioxide and formation of an alkene 2. This reaction is referred to as the Ramberg-Bdcklund reaction it usually yields a mixture of E- and Z-isomers of the alkene. 

An a-halosulfone 1 reacts with a base by deprotonation at the a -position to give a carbanionic species 3. An intramolecular nucleophilic substitution reaction, with the halogen substituent taking the part of the leaving group, then leads to formation of an intermediate episulfone 4 and the halide anion. This mechanism is supported by the fact that the episulfone 4 could be isolated. Subsequent extrusion of sulfur dioxide from 4 yields the alkene 2 ... 

The free-radical reaction may be equally initiated by photoactivated sulfur dioxide (3S02)442 (equation 79). On the other hand, polysulfones are obtained by radical copolymerization of appropriate olefins with sulfur dioxide443-449, and similarly, uptake of sulfur dioxide by a radical-pair formed by nitrogen extrusion from an azo compound yields the corresponding sulfone450 (equation 80). Correspondingly, alkylbenzenes, dibenzoyl peroxide, and sulfur dioxide yield sulfones under thermal conditions451... 

A corresponding extrusion of sulfur dioxide from disulfones has been reported486 (equation 98). Extrusions of sulfur have also been observed from thiolsulfinates yielding sulfones488,489. 

It is highly probable that the lesser stability of thiirene dioxides compared with that of the thiirene oxides simply reflects the more facile extrusion of sulfur dioxide relative to that of sulfur monoxide. In fact, the same effect is probably operative in the case of the cis- and trans-diphenylthiirane oxides (16g,h)110 compared with cis- and trans-diphenylthiirane dioxides (17d,e)99 the former were found to be more stable toward thermal decomposition than the latter. 

Ready extrusion of sulfur dioxide from fused thiirane dioxides is well known and was observed in the formation of pyrazoles from 19b and diazoalkanes6,179. A ring expansion... 

Interestingly, benzonitrile oxide does not react with thiirene dioxide 19b even in boiling benzene, whereas the electron-rich diene l-piperidino-2-methyl-l, 3-pentadiene (177) does react under the same reaction conditions to give the expected six-membered [4 + 2] cycloadduct 178, accompanied by sulfur dioxide extrusion and 1,3-hydrogen shift to form the conjugated system 179175 (equation 70). 

The main result of the thermolysis of the three-membered ring sulfoxides and sulfones is the extrusion of the sulfur monoxide and the sulfur dioxide moieties (Section III.C. I)99 10 5. Only in the presence of a suitably disposed /J-hydrogen does the ordinary sulfoxide-sulfenic acid fragmentation take place in the thiirane oxide series (equation 9). 

The dominant pattern for the thermal fragmentation of thietane dioxides involves extrusion of sulfur dioxide leading to a 1,3-diradical (i.e. 242) which closes to final products, mainly cyclopropanes, accompanied by rearrangement products resulting from hydrogen migration within the diradical191,1930 230,256-258 (equation 92). 

An interesting cycloheptatriene (182) synthesis has been described using thiophene 1, 1-dioxides (180) and cyclopropenes 181 (equation 121)ns. Concerted [4 + 2]cycloaddition and subsequent cheletropic extrusion of sulfur dioxide are suggested by the second-order kinetics (first in each reactant), and by the large negative activation entropy. 

Since sulfoxides and sulfones are versatile synthetic intermediates, and since in both the thiolene oxide and dioxides the reverse dethionylation" (—SO), and cheletropic extrusion of sulfur dioxide , respectively, readily take place thermally, these cycloadditions are expected to find a useful place in organic synthesis. It should be kept in mind, however, that the retrograde SO-diene reaction and interconversion of the thiolene oxides compete effectively against SO extrusion on heating, and that diene isomerization accompanies the forward reaction (SO -t- diene). 

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