Subject oxygen—sulfur bonds

It is very well known that polymers of high commercial value are obtained from formaldehyde by addition polymerization of its carbon-oxygen double bond. Not so well known is the addition polymerization capability of the carbon-sulfur double bond, probably because none of the polymers so obtained has yet become commercially acceptable. However, the polymerization chemistry of the carbon-sulfur double bond has been the subject of a number of studies and these have defined the preparation and properties of polythioformaldehyde, polythio-acetone, polymers from a small number of higher thioketones, and polymers from fluorine analogs of thioaldehydes and thioketones. The monomers have great reactivity beyond polymerization, and their general chemistry has been discussed in earlier reviews (/, 2). 

The sulfur-rich oxides S 0 and S 02 belong to the group of so-called lower oxides of sulfur named after the low oxidation state of the sulfur atom(s) compared to the best known oxide SO2 in which the sulfur is in the oxidation state +4. Sulfur monoxide SO is also a member of this class but is not subject of this review. The blue-green material of composition S2O3 described in the older literature has long been shown to be a mixture of salts with the cations S4 and Ss and polysulfate anions rather than a sulfur oxide [1,2]. Reliable reviews on the complex chemistry of the lower sulfur oxides have been published before [1, 3-6]. The present review deals with those sulfur oxides which contain at least one sulfur-sulfur bond and not more than two oxygen atoms. These species are important intermediates in a number of redox reactions of elemental sulfur and other sulfur compounds. 

Similar reactions are known of compounds in which the carbon-nitrogen bond is part of a heterocyclic nucleus.17 18 The oxygen atom of the reactive system may be replaced by a sulfur atom, with, however, some reduction in the tendency toward rearrangement. Allyl p-tolyl sulfide rearranges (XI —> XII) to the extent of 27% (50% based on sulfide not recovered) when subjected to refluxing at 228-264° for four hours.19... 

Djerrassi and co-workers suggested a mechanism for the oxygen introduction step, which involved formation of a hemiacetal intermediate caused by the fission of the carbon-sulfur bond followed by attack with hydroxide ion, as illustrated in Scheme 13.14.161,162 The mechanism is supported by the preservation of chiral center when an optically active ethylenehemithio acetal was subjected to desulfurization to regenerate the ketone. 

Most of the first row transition elements, and Cd, exhibit intermediate bonding preferences, sometimes occurring in chelation matrices containing both oxygen and nitrogen or sulfur ligands. Because Cd has been the subject of considerable toxicological study in marine systems, Cd++ will be used as an example of a borderline metal ion. 

The electronic structure of SO2 has been the subject of several theoretical studies which have provided a basis for interpretations of UV and photoelectron spectroscopic measurements These will not be reviewed in detail here since they all agree on those features which are important for a qualitative understanding of transition metal complex formation. The ground state configuration obtained from the extended Hiickel approach, for example, is (Iai) (lb2) (2ai) (lbi) (3ai) (2b2) (la2) (3b2) (4ai) (2bi) (4b2) (5ai) using 2 s, 2 p oxygen orbitals and 3 s, 3 p sulfur orbitals as a basis. The salient features from the M-SO2 bonding standpoint are the HOMO (4ai) and the LUMO (2bi), depicted in Fig. 2. These two orbitals can be described qualitatively as follows ... 

The structure of blue crystals of sodium bis(L-cysteinate)chromium(III) dihydrate, 1, which formed from a neutral aqueous solution of chromium(III) nitrate and L-cysteine, was found to be a slightly distorted octahedron with the Cr bound to two carboxylate oxygens and two amino nitrogens (mutually cis) and to two sulfur atoms (trans). This complex was found to be subject to acid hydrolysis which caused rapid cleavage of the chromium-sulfur bond and resulted in formation of the red-violet complex, Cr(H20)2(L-cysteinate-0,N)2,... 

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