Thioethers from Grignard reagents

If the rearrangement of oxime sulfonates is induced by organoaluminum reagents,the intermediate (71) is captured by the nucleophile originally attached to the Al. By this means an oxime can be converted to an imine, an imino thioether (R—N—C—SR), or an imino nitrile (R—N—C—In the last case, the nucleophile comes from added trimethyl si lyl cyanide. The imine-producing reaction can also be accomplished with a Grignard reagent in benzene or toluene. ... 

Sulfides, or thioethers, are sulfur analogues of ethers, and like ethers they can be either symmetrical (R2S) or unsymmetrical (RSR1, where R and R are different). Sulfides can be prepared from alkyl halides by a Williamson-type synthesis with sodium hydrogen sulfide, sodium thiolate or sodium sulfide from alkyl or aryl halides via the Grignard reagent (11) from alkenes by radical-catalysed addition of thiols or by reduction of sulfoxides (Scheme 9).2b... 

A reaction without an oxygen parallel takes place when 2-furyl methyl thioether is treated with a Grignard reagent in the presence of a complex formed from nickel(II) chloride and a 1,3-propadiylbisphosphine derivative (Scheme 49). The sulfur is lost and the Grignard radical takes its place in reasonable yield (59%).204... 

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