Thiirene oxides reactions

The issue of the acidity of a-hydrogens in thiirene oxides and dioxides is dealt with only in the dioxide series, since neither the parent, nor any mono-substituted thiirene oxide, is known to date. Thus the study of the reaction of 2-methylthiirene dioxide (19c) with aqueous sodium hydroxide revealed that the hydroxide ion is presumably diverted from attack at the sulfony 1 group (which is the usual pattern for hydroxide ion attack on thiirene dioxides) by the pronounced acidity of the vinyl proton of this compound113 (see equation 14). 

To summarize under favorable conditions the acidity of a-hydrogens facilitates the generation of a-sulfoxy and a-sulfonyl carbanions in thiirane and thiirene oxides and dioxides as in acyclic sulfoxides and sulfones. However, the particular structural constraints of three-membered ring systems may lead not only to different chemical consequences following the formation of the carbanions, but may also provide alternative pathways not available in the case of the acyclic counterparts for hydrogen abstraction in the reaction of bases. 

In contrast to thiirane oxides, the electrophilic oxidation of thiirene oxides to thiirene dioxides is feasible, probably because both the starting material and the end product can survive the reaction conditions (equation 21). 

In conclusion, any electrophilic attack on the sulfoxide function in thiirene oxides must overcome a substantial energy barrier. Indeed, many oxidative reagents that proved to react smoothly with acyclic sulfoxides131 left the thiirene oxides intact under comparable reaction conditions. Thus, there is a good correlation between theoretical predictions and experimental results in this case2,12. 

An illustrative example of the Michael reaction is that of the thiirene dioxide 19b with either hydroxylamine or hydrazine to give desoxybenzoin oxime (87) and desoxybenzoin azine (88), respectively, in good yields6 (see equation 29). The results were interpreted in terms of an initial nucleophilic addition to the a, j8-unsaturated sulfone system, followed by loss of sulfur dioxide and tautomerization. Interestingly, the treatment of the corresponding thiirene oxide (18a) with hydroxylamine also afforded 86 (as well as the dioxime of benzoin), albeit in a lower yield, but apparently via the same mechanistic pathway6. 

Finally, obtaining olefin 93 from the reaction of thiirene oxide 18a with two equivalents of phenylmagnesium bromide may be a consequence of the initial nucleophilic Michael-type addition of the latter across the carbon carbon double bond of the cyclic sulfone22 (see equation 31). 

Unexpectedly, neither direct complexation nor the deoxygenated complexes 95 or 96136,137 were observed in the reaction of diphenylthiirene oxide (18a) with iron nonacarbonyl. Instead, the red organosulfur-iron complex 97138 was isolated12, which required the cleavage of three carbon-sulfur bonds in the thiirene oxide system (see equation 33). The mechanism of the formation of 97 from 18a is as yet a matter of speculation. 

As formal a, /i-unsaturated sulfones and sulfoxides, respectively, both thiirene dioxides (19) and thiirene oxides (18) should be capable, in principle, of undergoing cycloaddition reactions with either electron-rich olefins or serving as electrophilic dipolarophiles in 2 + 3 cycloadditions. The ultimate products in such cycloadditions are expected to be a consequence of rearrangements of the initially formed cycloadducts, and/or loss of sulfur dioxide (or sulfur monoxide) following the cycloaddition step, depending on the particular reaction conditions. The relative ease of the cycloaddition should provide some indication concerning the extent of the aromaticity in these systems2. 

Thiirene oxides are more stable as the electrons on the sulfur are less available to make the ring antiaromatic. Stable fused thiirene oxides have been isolated and shown to be powerful dienophiles and dipolarophiles <1996CHEC-II(1)241, 1982JA4981, 1984JA2216>. Other reactions of fused thiirenes and their oxides remain relatively unexplored. 

All unexpected reaction is the formation of dithiete 175, thiirene 1-oxide 185, and thioketone 186 by the treatment of di-l-adamantylacetylene with S2CI2 (99UPl).Tlie yield of each compound is 30% at most. 

Interestingly, benzonitrile oxide does not react with thiirene dioxide 19b even in boiling benzene, whereas the electron-rich diene l-piperidino-2-methyl-l, 3-pentadiene (177) does react under the same reaction conditions to give the expected six-membered [4 + 2] cycloadduct 178, accompanied by sulfur dioxide extrusion and 1,3-hydrogen shift to form the conjugated system 179175 (equation 70). 

Most thiirene dioxides (and oxides) have been prepared through a modified Ramberg-Backlund reaction as the last crucial cyclization step, as illustrated in equation 40 for the benzylic series . Synthesis of thiirene dioxides requires two major modifications of the originally employed reaction first, the inorganic base has to be replaced by the less basic and less nucleophilic triethylamine - and second, the aqueous media has to be substituted by an aprotic organic solvent (e.g. methylene chloride). Under these mild reaction conditions the isolation of aryl-substituted thiirene dioxides (and oxides) is feasible . In fact, this is the most convenient way for the preparation of the aryl-disubstituted three-membered ring sulfones and sulfoxides. ... 

Reactions Involving Cyclic Transition States 5.06.3.8.1 Dipolar additions to thiirene 1-oxides and 1,1-dioxides... 

The reaction of 1,2-diadamantylacetylene with disulfur dichloride led to the formation of the dithiete 232 (mentioned above), l,2-diadamantyl-2-thiooxoethanone 233, and the thiirene 1-oxide derivative 234 in 21%, 33%, and 27% yield, respectively (Equation 50) <2000TL8349, 2003JA12114, 1998BCJ1181 >. 

Reactions Involving Cyclic Transition States - Dipolar Addition to Thiirene-1 -Oxides... 

The double bond in thiirene, thiirene-1-oxide, and thiirene-1,1-dioxide is expected to increase ring strain and lead, in general, to enhanced reactivity in any reactions that would lead to strain relief. Such relief would result from ringopening reactions, extrusion of S, SO, or SO2, or additions to the double bond that convert sp - to sp -carbon. Moreover, conjugation between the 7t-bond and sulfur, with its substituents, might be expected to lead to absorption of light and photochemical reactions. 

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