Of disulfides

Reactions of the Disulfide Group. Besides the thiol end groups, the disulfide bonds also have a marked influence on both the chemical and physical properties of the polysulftde polymers. One of the key reactions of disulfides is nucleophilic attack on sulfur (eq. 4). The order of reactivity for various thiophiles has been reported as (C2H O) P > R, HS , C2H5 S- >C,H,S- >C,H,P,... 

Disulfides. The introduction of disulfide bonds can have various effects on protein stability. In T4 lyso2yme, for example, the incorporation of some disulfides increases thermal stability others reduce stability (47—49). Stabili2ation is thought to result from reduction of the conformational entropy of the unfolded state, whereas in most cases the cause of destabili2ation is the introduction of dihedral angle stress. In natural proteins, placement of a disulfide bond at most positions within the polypeptide chain would result in unacceptable constraint of the a-carbon chain. 

The solubility in alkali sulfide solutions stems from the presence of disulfide groups —S—S— in ortho position to the terminal amino groups. These disulfide groups are reduced to the mercapto groups —SH, which are soluble in alkaU. 

The reaction of thiirane 1-oxides with water or methanol is usually acid-catalyzed and gives /3-substituted sulfenic acids which dimerize to thiolsulfinates (54 Scheme 70) (72JA5786). If acetic acid is used a mixture of disulfide (55) and thiolsulfonate (56) is obtained. Treatment of thiirane 1,1-dioxides with hydroxide ion may involve attack on carbon as well as on sulfur as exemplified by 2-phenylthiirane 1,1-dioxide (Scheme 71). 

The C-terminal domain of phosducin is a five-stranded mixed p sheet with a helices on both sides, similar to the thioredoxin fold of disulfide iso-merase DsbA described in Chapter 6. Despite significant sequence homology to thioredoxin, the phosducin domain, unlike other members of this family. 

Figure 15.17 The three-dimensional structure of an intact IgG. Hinge regions connecting the Fab arms with the Fc stem are relatively flexible, despite the presence of disulfide bonds in this region linking the heavy and light chains. Carbohydrate residues that bridge the two Ch2 domains are not shown. (Courtesy of A. McPherson and L. Harris, Nature 360 369-372, 1992, by copyright permission of Macmillan Magazines Limited.)...

In fact, perfluoroalkyl iodides can react with thiolates even in the absence of UV irradiation [55, 62, 63] However, the photochemical reaction is particularly useful for the transformation of aliphatic thiols [59], because the spontaneous condensation gives a considerable quantity of disulfide in that case (equations 53-55). 

Trifluoromethylation of disulfides occurs also with /V-trifluoromethyl-iV-m-trosobenzene sulfonamide [73] (equation 66). 

Reactions of Organic Fluorine Compounds Table 4. Preparation of Disulfides... 

FIGURE 5.18 Methods for cleavage of disulfide bonds in proteins, (a) Oxidative cleavage by reaction with performic acid, (b) Reductive cleavage with snlfliydryl compounds. Disulfide bridges can be broken by reduction of the S—S link with snlfliydryl agents such as 2-mercaptoethanol or dithiothreitol. Because reaction between the newly reduced —SH groups to re-establish disulfide bonds is a likelihood, S—S reduction must be followed by —SH modification (1) alkylation with iodoac-etate (ICH,COOH) or (2) modification with 3-bromopropylamine (Br— (CH,)3—NH,). 

The addition of disulfide ions to a polarized 1,3-diyne system occurs in the same manner (77HOU947). 

Also important for stabilizing a protein s tertiary stmcture are the formation of disulfide bridges between cysteine residues, the formation of hydrogen bonds between nearby amino acid residues, and the presence of ionic attractions, called salt bridges, between positively and negatively charged sites on various amino acid side chains within the protein. 

Sulfinic esters, aromatic, by oxidation of disulfides in alcohols, 46, 64 Sulfonation ot d,l camphor to d,l-10-camphorsulfomc acid, 45,12 Sulfoxides, table of examples of preparation from sulfides with sodium metapenodate, 46,79 Sulfur dioxide, reaction with styrene phosphorus pentachlonde to give styrylphosphomc diclilonde, 46,... 

The S-S linkage of disulfides and the C-S linkage of certain sulfides can undergo photoinduced homolysis. The low reactivity of the sulfur-centered radicals in addition or abstraction processes means that primary radical termination can be a complication. The disulfides may also be extremely susceptible to transfer to initiator (Ci for 88 is ca 0.5, Sections 6.2.2.2 and 9.3.2). However, these features are used to advantage when the disulfides are used as initiators in the synthesis of tel ec he lies295 or in living radical polymerizations. 96 The most common initiators in this context are the dithiuram disulfides (88) which are both thermal and photochemical initiators. The corresponding monosulfides [e.g. (89)J are thermally stable but can be used as photoinitiators. The chemistry of these initiators is discussed in more detail in Section 9.3.2. 

Thiyl radicals are formed by transfer to thiols or by thermal or photochemical decomposition of disulfides (Scheme 3.84). 

When a mixture of disulfides was used (e.g., CH3SSCH3 and n-BuSSn-Bu), it was possible to determine the ratios of the two different products. Determine the rate constant ratio for the two disulfides, mcAbu. 

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