Sulfur boron-oxygen bonds

Exchange of boron-oxygen bonds with boron-sulfur bonds has been investigated 178) in the systems described by Eqs. (86)-(89), where X and Y... 

Thioketals are readily formed by acid-catalyzed reaction with ethane-dithiol. Selective thioketal formation is achieved at C-3 in the presence of a 6-ketone by carrying out the boron trifluoride catalyzed reaction in diluted medium. Selective protection of the 3-carbonyl group as a thioketal has been effected in high yield with A" -3,17-diketones, A" -3,20-diketones and A" -3,l 1,17-triones in acetic acid at room temperature in the presence of p-toluenesulfonic acid. In the case of thioketals the double bond remains in the 4,5-position. This result is attributed to the greater nucleophilicity of sulfur as compared to oxygen, which promotes closure of intermediate (66) to the protonated cyclic mercaptal (67) rather than elimination to the 3,5-diene [cf. ketal (70) via intermediates (68) and (69)]." " ... 

The addition of thiols to C—C multiple bonds may proceed via an electrophilic pathway involving ionic processes or a free radical chain pathway. The main emphasis in the literature has been on the free radical pathway, and little work exists on electrophilic processes.534-537 The normal mode of addition of the relatively weakly acidic thiols is by the electrophilic pathway in accordance with Markovnikov s rule (equation 299). However, it is established that even the smallest traces of peroxide impurities, oxygen or the presence of light will initiate the free radical mode of addition leading to anti-Markovnikov products. Fortunately, the electrophilic addition of thiols is catalyzed by protic acids, such as sulfuric acid538 and p-toluenesulfonic acid,539 and Lewis acids, such as aluminum chloride,540 boron trifluoride,536 titanium tetrachloride,540 tin(IV) chloride,536 540 zinc chloride536 and sulfur dioxide.541... 

In contrast, use of metalloid elements, such as silicon, tin antimony or boron, which can form weak covalent bonds with oxygen, nitrogen or sulfur substituents during the course of the reaction, results in templated products that may be obtained metal-free by simple hydrolysis. These covalent template reactions (the M—X bond is essentially covalent in these cases) also have the advantage that the... 

Of the solvents, aromatic and olefinic hydrocarbons are r-donors ( r-EPD) alcohols, ethers, amines, carboxamides, nitriles, ketones, sulfoxides and N- and P-oxides are n-donors (n-EPD), and haloalkanes are cr-donors (cr-EPD). Boron and antimony triha-lides are acceptor solvents (r-EPA), as are halogens and mixed halogens (c-EPA), and liquid sulfur dioxide (ti-EPA). In principle, all solvents are amphoteric in this respect, i.e. they may act as a donor (nucleophile) and an acceptor (electrophile) simultaneously. For example, water can act as a donor (by means of the oxygen atom) as well as as an acceptor (by forming hydrogen bonds). This is one of the reasons for the exceptional importance of water as a solvent. 

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