Sulfenic acid esters disulfides

In contrast to the free acids, sulfenate esters, amides and halides are more stable. Disulfides (52) can be obtained from thiols by mild oxidation (see p. 57), and sulfenyl chlorides () can in turn be prepared from disulfides (52) by treatment with chlorine (Scheme 30). Sulfenyl chlorides (51) react with alcohols to give esters, e.g. the methyl sulfenate (53) which on alkaline hydrolysis yields the sulfenic acid (45) (Scheme 30). 

The 2-sulfonyloxaziridine (57) is a more selective oxidant than peracids. The reagent has been employed in the oxidation of sulfides to sulfoxides, disulfides to thiolsulfinates, selenides to selenoxides, thiols to sulfenic acids, organometallic reagents to alcohols and phenols, ketone and ester enolates to a-hydroxycarbonyl compounds (equation 31)41. The oxidation of chiral amide enolates gives optically active a-hydroxy carboxylic acids with 93-99% enantiomeric excess42. 

Pyrolysis of sulfoxides provides a convenient method for introducing unsaturation at the position a- to carbonyl compounds. Formation of the enolate and reaction with dimethyl (or diphenyl) disulfide gives the a-methylthio (or phenylthio) derivative. Oxidation with a suitable oxidant, such as mCPBA or NaI04, gives the sulfoxide, which eliminates sulfenic acid on heating to give the a,(3-unsaturated carbonyl compound. For example, the methyl ester of a pheromone of queen honey bees was synthesized from methyl 9-oxodecanoate after initial protection of the ketone as the acetal (2.24). The -isomer usually predominates in reactions... 

In a weakly alkaline solution, isothiocyanate reacts with the a-amino group of cysteine (Figure 2.64). The reaction of isothiocyanates with cystine leads to the cleavage of disulfide bond (-S-S-) with the formation of cysteine sulfenic acid and a dithiocarbamic acid ester. Dehydration of this ester yields 5-amino-l,3-thiazine-4-one-3-thione derivative and elimination of hydrogen sulfide produces a cyclic 2-thiazoline-4-carboxylic acid derivative (Figure 2.65). Reaction of cystine with thiocyanates (R-S-C=N), formed by spontaneous isomerisation of isothiocyanates, produces disulfide Cys-S-S-R and -thiocyanoalanine, which cyclises to 2-thiazoline derivative (Figure 2.66). 

Types of compounds are arranged according to the following system hydrocarbons and basic heterocycles hydroxy compounds and their ethers mercapto compounds, sulfides, disulfides, sulfoxides and sulfones, sulfenic, sulfinic and sulfonic acids and their derivatives amines, hydroxylamines, hydrazines, hydrazo and azo compounds carbonyl compounds and their functional derivatives carboxylic acids and their functional derivatives and organometallics. In each chapter, halogen, nitroso, nitro, diazo and azido compounds follow the parent compounds as their substitution derivatives. More detail is indicated in the table of contents. In polyfunctional derivatives reduction of a particular function is mentioned in the place of the highest functionality. Reduction of acrylic acid, for example, is described in the chapter on acids rather than functionalized ethylene, and reduction of ethyl acetoacetate is discussed in the chapter on esters rather than in the chapter on ketones. 

Buffer catalysis of the hydrolysis of phenyl (311 R = Ph) and methyl (311 R = Me) benzenesulfinates to give the sulfinic acid (312) and alcohol ROH is strongly accelerated by both carboxylate and amine components of the buffer which give Bronsted /i values of approximately unity on separate lines. The carboxylates are about 44 tunes more effective than amines of similar basicity. A concerted. S n2 mechanism with a hypervalent intermediate (313) is proposed for the nucleophilic reaction of these esters.286 The reaction of the thiosulfinate esters (314) with sulfenyl chlorides RSCI and sulfenate esters (315) to give sulfinyl chlorides and disulfides and sulfinate esters and disulfides, respectively, has been studied.287 Hydrolysis of 2-(3-aminophenyl)sulfonyl-ethanol hydrogensulfate gives under different conditions various products such as the ether (316) and the sulfone (317).288... 

Armed with so much data, and new insights, it was easy to predict that RS02 would be a hard acid, and RS would be a soft acid (the outer p electrons of sulfur take the place of the d electrons of the transition metals). Finding that RSO2F was stable, while RSO2I was almost impossible to make, and that RSSR disulfides were stable, while sulfenic esters, RSOR, were very unstable, simply confirmed the predictions. 

The sulfenate esters RSOR also have a soft-hard make-up they are more reactive and less stable than disulfides RSSR in which both the acid and base moieties are soft. 

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