Solvent thiiranes

In alcoholic solvents thiiran 1-oxides yield thiolsulphinates, which may undergo further reaction with solvent to give a-alkoxy-disulphides, as shown in Scheme 5 83o Oxidation of 2-methylthiiran 1-oxide by titanium(iii) ion and hydrogen... 

The configurations of chiral thiiranes and thiirane 1-oxides can be determined by H NMR experiments in chiral solvents such as (R)-(-)- -phenyl-2,2,2-trifluoroethanol. The... 

The H NMR spectrum of thiirane 1-oxide is complex (AA BB ) at 60 MHz 24 lines are cfbserved consisting of two sets of 12 centered about a midpoint. The H NMR chemical shift in thiirane 1,1-dioxide is fairly sensitive to solvent variations partly because of the high dipole moment (4.4 D) of the sulfone. The benzene-induced shift, A5 (CeDe-CCLt), is large (-1.04 p.p.m.), as expected from the presence of a sulfone group. Oxygen-17 chemical shifts for thiirane 1-oxide and thiirane 1,1-oxide are -71 and +111 p.p.m. respectively, relative to H2O. 

Chlorination of thiiranes in hydroxylic solvents gives /3-chloroethylsulfonyl chlorides due to further oxidation of the intermediate sulfenyl chloride by chlorine or hypochlorous acid (Scheme 40). Polymer is usually obtained also unless the reaction is done in concentrated hydrochloric acid, which causes rapid ring cleavage to 2-chloroethylthiols which are subsequently oxidized to the sulfonyl chlorides. An 85% yield of (37) is obtained in concentrated hydrochloric acid-HCl(g) whereas only a 15% yield is obtained in CCI4-H2O. 

Treatment of thiiranes with lithium aluminum hydride gives a thiolate ion formed by attack of hydride ion on the least hindered carbon atoms (76RCR25), The mechanism is 5n2, inversion occurring at the site of attack. Polymerization initiated by the thiolate ion is a side reaction and may even be the predominant reaction, e.g. with 2-phenoxymethylthiirane. Use of THF instead of ether as solvent is said to favor polymerization. Tetrahydroborates do not reduce the thiirane ring under mild conditions and can be used to reduce other functional groups in the presence of the episulfide. Sodium in ammonia reduces norbornene episulfide to the exo thiol. 

To a mixture of ethyl 5a-cholestan-3-one 2a-xanthate (2 g, 3.95 mmol) and 100 ml methanol is added sufficient ether to completely dissolve the solids. Sodium borohydride (90 mg, 2.36 mmol) is added directly to the reaction flask and the solution is stirred at room temperature for 4 hr. (The use of an excess of sodium borohydride and an extended reaction time produces 5oc-cholestan-2a,3a-thiirane.) The reaction is diluted with 200 ml ether and washed several times with ca. 100 ml water, dried (MgS04) and the solvent is removed under vacuum. The crude sticky gum is chromatographed on a column of 85 g silicic acid. The hexane eluates contain 5a-cholest-2-ene. Ethyl 5a-cholestan-3a-ol 2a-xanthate is obtained in ca. 30% yield by subsequent elution with benzene hexane (1 7) and the desired ethyl 5a-cholestan-3 -ol 2a-xanthate is eluted with ether hexane (1 3) in ca. 30% yield. 

A solution of the acylated thiocyanatohydrin in a minimal amount of 5% potassium hydroxide in diglyme (other solvents such as methanol, ethanol or tetrahydrofuran have also been used) is stirred for 2 days at room temperature. Water is added to the reaction mixture to precipitate the product which is filtered or extracted with ether (or chloroform). The ether extract is washed several times with water, dried (Na2S04), and concentrated under vacuum. The thiirane usually can be crystallized from an appropriate solvent pair. Chromatography over alumina has been used for the purification of episulfides. 

The elimination of sulfur dioxide from thiirane dioxides leading to the corresponding alkenes is not the only result of base-induced reactions other products are also formed. This fact raises the question of the mechanistic pathway of this reaction. In general, the thiirane dioxide is treated with a large excess of the base in an appropriate solvent for several hours at room temperature or below. Bases commonly used are 2n NaOH (in water), NaOCH3 (in methanol), t-BuO-K + (in f-BuOH) and BuLi (in tetrahydrofuran) or KOH-CCU (in t-BuOH)16-19"112 113. 

Another procedure145 consists of bubbling of sulfur dioxide through a chilled solution of diazomethane in ether146. Evaporation of the solvent leaves the crude thiirane dioxide, which can be further purified by either distillation under reduced pressure or recrystallization. The formation of the thiirane dioxides is usually accompanied by formation of the corresponding olefins, along with small amount of ketazines. 

There is no clear reason to prefer either of these mechanisms, since stereochemical and kinetic data are lacking. Solvent effects also give no suggestion about the problem. It is possible that the carbon-carbon bond is weakened by an increasing number of phenyl substituents, resulting in more carbon-carbon bond cleavage products, as is indeed found experimentally. All these reductive reactions of thiirane dioxides with metal hydrides are accompanied by the formation of the corresponding alkenes via the usual elimination of sulfur dioxide. 

The use of excess diazoalkane in its reaction with sulfur dioxide will necessarily lead to symmetrically substituted thiirane dioxides. When monoalkyl or monoaryl diazoalkanes are used, mixtures of cis- and trans-isomers are formed The cis/trans ratio of the products varies significantly with the polarity of the reaction medium the higher the polarity of the solvent, the lower is the yield of the cis-product. 

The preparation of thiiranes is most conveniently performed in solution. However, there are also protocols reported for reaction in the gas and solid phase. By using diazo and thiocarbonyl compounds in ether as solvent, both alkyl and aryl substituted thiiranes are accessible. As indicated earlier, aryl substituents destabilize the initially formed 2,5-dihydro-1,3,4-thiadiazole ring and, in general, thiiranes are readily obtained at low temperature (13,15,35). On the other hand, alkyl substituents, especially bulky ones, enhance the stability of the initial cycloadduct, and the formation of thiiranes requires elevated temperatures (36 1,88). Some examples of sterically crowded thiiranes prepared from thioketones and a macro-cyclic diazo compound have been published by Atzmiiller and Vbgtle (106). Diphenyldiazomethane reacts with (arylsulfonyl)isothiocyanates and this is followed by spontaneous N2 elimination to give thiirane-2-imines (60) (107,108). Under similar conditions, acyl-substituted isothiocyanates afforded 2 1-adducts 61 (109) (Scheme 5.23). It seems likely that the formation of 61 involves a thiirane intermediate analogous to 60, which subsequently reacts with a second equivalent... 

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