Reactions with Sulfur-Hydrogen Bonds

The biochemical basis for the toxicity of mercury and mercury compounds results from its ability to form covalent bonds readily with sulfur. Prior to reaction with sulfur, however, the mercury must be metabolized to the divalent cation. When the sulfur is in the form of a sulfhydryl (— SH) group, divalent mercury replaces the hydrogen atom to form mercaptides, X—Hg— SR and Hg(SR)2, where X is an electronegative radical and R is protein (36). Sulfhydryl compounds are called mercaptans because of their ability to capture mercury. Even in low concentrations divalent mercury is capable of inactivating sulfhydryl enzymes and thus causes interference with cellular metaboHsm and function (31—34). Mercury also combines with other ligands of physiological importance such as phosphoryl, carboxyl, amide, and amine groups. It is unclear whether these latter interactions contribute to its toxicity (31,36). 

Taking the order of magnitude, these results are, of course, not surprising considering that a sulfur-hydrogen bond in thiols is generally weaker by up to about 20 kcal mol" (ca. 85 kJ moE ) than a carbon-hydrogen bond. An even faster H-atom abstraction is achieved by hydroxyl radicals which occurs with rate constants of several 10 M s [13], reaction (2) ... 

Alkyl hydrogen sulfates can be converted to alcohols by heating them with water This IS called hydrolysis, because a bond is cleaved by reaction with water It is the oxygen-sulfur bond that is broken when an alkyl hydrogen sulfate undergoes hydrolysis... 

Uses ndReactions. Dihydromyrcene is used primarily for manufacture of dihydromyrcenol (25), but there are no known uses for the pseudocitroneUene. Dihydromyrcene can be catalyticaUy hydrated to dihydromyrcenol by a variety of methods (103). Reaction takes place at the more reactive tri-substituted double bond. Reaction of dihydromyrcene with formic acid gives a mixture of the alcohol and the formate ester and hydrolysis of the mixture with base yields dihydromyrcenol (104). The mixture of the alcohol and its formate ester is also a commercially avaUable product known as Dimyrcetol. Sulfuric acid is reported to have advantages over formic acid and hydrogen chloride in that it is less compUcated and gives a higher yield of dihydromyrcenol (105). 

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