Sulfur atoms, electronic states transition state

Molybdenum(VI)-catalysed perborate oxidation of sulfides is first order with respect to the sulfide and Mo(VI) but zero order in perborate. The uncatalysed reaction is first order in each the reductant and oxidant. Trichloroacetic acid enhances the oxidation rate. Oxidation of para-substituted. S -phenylmcrcaploacclic acids yielded a Hammett p of -0.54 at 293 K, indicating an electron-deficient sulfur atom in the transition state. 

Nucleophilic substitution at RSO2X is similar to attack at RCOX. Many of the reactions are essentially the same, though sulfonyl halides are less reactive than halides of carboxylic acids. The mechanisms are not identical, because a tetrahedral intermediate in this case (148) would have five groups on the central atom. Though this is possible (since sulfur can accommodate up to 12 electrons in its valence shell) it seems more likely that these mechanisms more closely resemble the Sn2 mechanism, with a trigonal bipyramidal transition state (148). There are two major experimental results leading to this conclusion. 

The S02 molecule has unshared pairs of electrons on both the sulfur and oxygen atoms. As a result, it forms numerous complexes with transitions metals in which it is known to attach in several ways. These include bonding through the sulfur atom, through an oxygen atom, by both oxygen atoms, and various bridging schemes. In most cases, the complexes involve soft metals in low oxidation states. Another important reaction of sulfur dioxide is known as the insertion reaction, in which it is placed... 

XAS data comprises both absorption edge structure and extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS). The application of XAS to systems of chemical interest has been well reviewed (4 5). Briefly, the structure superimposed on the x-ray absorption edge results from the excitation of core-electrons into high-lying vacant orbitals (, ] ) and into continuum states (8 9). The shape and intensity of the edge structure can frequently be used to determine information about the symmetry of the absorbing site. For example, the ls+3d transition in first-row transition metals is dipole forbidden in a centrosymmetric environment. In a non-centrosymmetric environment the admixture of 3d and 4p orbitals can give intensity to this transition. This has been observed, for example, in a study of the iron-sulfur protein rubredoxin, where the iron is tetrahedrally coordinated to four sulfur atoms (6). 

The absorption spectra of blue copper proteins typically include one major peak and two other peaks of varying size in the range 10,000-30,000 cm-1 (164-166). MCD spectroscopy has proved useful in assigning these peaks. The electronic excitations of the active site can be classed as either d—>d or LMCT transitions. The d- fd transitions will involve excited states where the electron hole remains on the Cu atom while the LMCT transitions will move the hole to the ligands, in particular the sulfur atoms of the Met and Cys groups. Thus the d- d transitions would be expected to be more strongly influenced by spin-orbit coupling and this should be reflected in the relative size of the Cj/Dj ratios of the bands in their MCD spectra. 

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