Trialkyl sulfonium

The first methylene insertion reaction in ionic hquids involves the reaction of a trialkyl sulfonium salt with an aldehyde to give an epoxide [4]. Here a sulfide is... 

Various sulfonium and carbosulfonium ions show remarkably enhanced reactivity upon superelectrophilic activation, similar to their oxygen analogs so do selenonium and telluronium ions. The alkylating ability of their trialkyl salts, for example, is greatly increased by protosolvation. 

As an analogous example, the behavior of sulfonium salts can be mentioned. At mercury electrodes, sulfonium salts bearing trialkyl (Colichman and Love 1953) or triaryl (Matsuo 1958) fragments can be reduced, with the formation of sulfur-centered radicals. These radicals are adsorbed on the mercury surface. After this, carboradicals are eliminated. The carboradicals capture one more electron and transform into carbanions. This is the final stage of reduction. The mercury surface cooperates with both the successive one-electron steps (Scheme 2.23 Luettringhaus and Machatzke 1964). This scheme is important for the problem of hidden adsorption, but it cannot be generalized in terms of stepwise versus concerted mechanism of dissociative electron transfer. As shown, the reduction of some sulfonium salts does follow the stepwise mechanism, but others are reduced according to the concerted mechanism (Andrieux et al. 1994). 

Trialkyl cations of oxygen, sulfur, and selenenium (and less commonly tellurium) are onium ions by virtue of their having one extra valence, although these three-coordinate ions invite comparison with carbenium ions. These ions (e.g., 28, 29, and 30) are not planar (as opposed to the analogous carbenium ions), but rather are pyramidal. These species have a well-characterized solution acid chemistry concentrated sulfuric acid is required for observation of the trimethyloxonium cation, but the sulfonium and selenonium ions require less strongly acidic solutions. 

Recently, other onium salts such as /V-alkoxy pyridinium [13], allylic onium [14,15], trialkyl phenacyl ammonium [16], and dialkyl phenacyl sulfonium salts [17,18] of the following structures (Chart 11.2) are shown to be convenient for producing the initiating species for cationic polymerization. 

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