Thioethers 1,3-elimination reactions

Over the years, several techniques have been developed to elucidate the structure of a new lantibiotic. The extensive post-translational modifications limit Edman degradation to a stretch of amino acids from the N-terminus to the first modification. Various chemical derivatization techniques have been used to allow continuation of the sequence and to reveal the position of the posttranslationaUy modified residues. Originally, these techniques relied on treatment with ethanethiol under highly basic conditions that result in elimination reactions of the thioethers... 

Cystathionine y-synthase (CGS) is a rather unique PLP-enzyme that catalyzes a transsulfuration reaction important in microbial methionine biosynthesis. It is the only known enzyme whose function is the catalysis of a PLP-dependent replacement reaction at the y-carbon of the amino acid substrate the succinyl moiety of O-succinyl-L-homoserine is replaced by i-Cys to give the thioether linkage of L,/.-cystathionine (scheme II). In the absence of L-Cys, the enzyme catalyzes a net y-elimination reaction from OSHS (scheme II). Because both reactions require the elimination of succinate, the catalytic pathways must diverge from a common reaction intermediate. It was originally hypothesized that a vinylglycine quinonoidal intermediate (structure 11)... 

Let us turn to answering the second question first. Potential precursors of dehydroalanine, by way of -elimination, are the amino acids with functional groups at the /3-carbon atom. Such -elimination reactions are likely to be enzyme-catalyzed in nature. Additionally, the substrates may be suitably substituted at functions, such as the sulfhydryl group (thioether and sulfonium salt formation) or the hydroxyl group (carbohydrate attachment—glycopeptides and proteins phosphorylation). 

Thioethers. Bridgehead positions in hydrocarbons are functionalized as butyl-thioethers by reaction with lead tetra-acetate and butanethiol (c/. ref. 1). Reductive sulphidation of aldehydes is accomplished by conversion to a silyl monothio-acetal and cleavage of the C-O bond as outlined in Scheme 38. Reaction of primary alcohols with aryl isothiocyanates and triphenyl phosphine produces arylalkylthioethers, presumably via the sequence of Scheme 39. In secondary and tertiary cases elimination (to ArSH and alkene) from (76) is a competing process. 

Two-component methods represent the most widely applied principles in sulfone syntheses, including C—S bond formation between carbon and RSOz species of nucleophilic, radical or electrophilic character as well as oxidations of thioethers or sulfoxides, and cheletropic reactions of sulfur dioxide. Three-component methods use sulfur dioxide as a binding link in order to connect two carbons by a radical or polar route, or use sulfur trioxide as an electrophilic condensation agent to combine two hydrocarbon moieties by a sulfonyl bridge with elimination of water. 

However, more recent work has shown that the reaction of thioglycollic acid (HSCH2COOH) with methylcobalamin to give the methyl thioether requires oxygen and shows an induction period [which can be reduced by increasing the pH, the thiol concentration, or the partial pressure of O2, and eliminated by the addition of the Co(II) complex], followed by a steady-state reaction [ whose rate increases with pH, the concentration of the CH3C0 and Co(II) complexes and the partial pressure of O2, but is independent of thiol concentration]. Neither the induction period nor the steady-state... 

Rainier devised a variant of the 5-exo-dig radical cyclization of 2-alkynylisocyanides 122 wherein thiols were utilized to both initiate the radical cascade as well as act as nucleophiles in the reaction with the indolenine intermediate 123 yielding the indoles 124 . When R = TMS, elimination of the C-10 thioether can be effected in a gramine-like fashion so as to add nucleophiles (e.g., malonate anion) in the presence of Bu3P allowing for the preparation of more highly functionalized indoles. 

Sulfur ylides behave similarly to phosphorus ylides, but the final products are different. Figure 10-31 shows the mechanism for the prepciration of a sulfur ylide and the reaction of the sulfur ylide with a carbonyl group. Notice that the mechanism for the formation of the sulfur ylide is similar to the formation of a phosphorus ylide. However, the last step in the sulfur ylide mechanism is an internal S, 2 reaction, which eliminates the original thioether (dimethyl sulfide). The reaction of a sulfur ylide with a ketone yields epoxides, whereas the product of a phosphorus ylide with a ketone is an alkene. 

On the other hand, the analogous reaction of 2,2,4,4-tetramethyl-3-thioxocyclo-butanone and 2-diazopropane afforded a stable cycloadduct, which upon heating eliminated N2 and yielded a mixture of thiirane (46) and vinyl thioether 47 (85). A similar competition involving both an electrocyclization and a 1,4-H shift was observed in the case of diisopropylthioketone (5)-methylide (39). 

The above reactions in this section have been examples of addition alone or addition followed by elimination. Ligand reactions involving nucleophilic substitution are also known and these are of the dealkylation type. Lewis acids such as aluminum chloride or tin(IV) chloride have been used for many years in the selective demethylation of aromatic methyl ethers, where chelation is involved (Scheme 27). Similar cleavage of thioethers, specially using mercury(II) salts, is commonly used to remove thioacetal functions masking ketones (equation 27).104 In some cases, reactions of metal ions with thioether ligands result in isolation of complexes of the dealkylated organic moiety (equations 28 and 29).105-107... 

The ready evolution of the adducts into aromatic quinones by spontaneous sulfinyl elimination and further aromatization prompted the use of sulfinyl naphthoquinones as a synthetic equivalent of the unknown compound naph-thynoquinone [103]. For this purpose, sulfinyl quinones represent a convenient synthetic alternative to haloquinones. The highly regioselective course of the Diels-Alder reactions of 2-phenylsulfinyl-1,4-naphthoquinones (as well as their corresponding thioethers and sulfones) unsymmetrically substituted by... 

In contrast to the 5-endo-trig anionic cyclization reactions, rarely observed, there are several examples in which 5-endo-dig processes are involved. Hence 2,3-disubstituted benzofurans, benzothiophenes and indoles 374 have been synthesized starting from triflu-oroethyl ethers, thioethers and anilines 373, respectively, and alkyllithium compounds. A 5-endo-dig carbolithiation reaction on 375, generated by two successive eliminations, one substitution and one ortho-lithiation reactions, is proposed to account for the formation of the corresponding 2-lithiated heterocycles. Further reaction of these intermediates with electrophiles affords compounds 374 (Scheme 98)159. In the case of thioether 373 (X = S) a bromine substituent must be present at the ortho position. 

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