Unsaturated thioethers formation

Bromination of the enol ether product with two equivalents of bromine followed by dehydrobromination afforded the Z-bromoenol ether (Eq. 79) which could be converted to the zinc reagent and cross-coupled with aryl halides [242]. Dehydrobromination in the presence of thiophenol followed by bromination/dehydrobromination affords an enol thioether [243]. Oxidation to the sulfone, followed by exposure to triethylamine in ether, resulted in dehydrobromination to the unstable alkynyl sulfone which could be trapped with dienes in situ. Alternatively, dehydrobromination of the sulfide in the presence of allylic alcohols results in the formation of allyl vinyl ethers which undergo Claisen rearrangements [244]. Further oxidation followed by sulfoxide elimination results in highly unsaturated trifluoromethyl ketonic products (Eq. 80). 

These results can be explained by the relative rates of the formation of the sulfoxide (step a) and of the corresponding sulfone (step b) in the oxidation reaction of thioethers (reaction 1). It is known that, for dialkyl sulfides, such as Et2S, Pr2S and BU2S, sulfoxide formation proceeds much faster than sulfone formation [1], For the allyl sulfide the selectivity in sulfoxide is lower, because the difference in the rates of the two steps (a) and (b) of the oxidation reaction is less important, due to the conjugation of the lone electron pairs on the sulfur atom with the unsaturated system [1],... 

One problem of prime importance is the reliable determination of the number of residues of ,/3-unsaturated amino acids in proteins. Direct amino acid analysis subsequent to total hydrolysis of proteins is not feasible. The ,/3-unsaturated amino acids are subject to degradation with the formation of amide (ammonia) and -keto-acid. The numbers and types of ,/3-unsaturated amino acids in nisin (1) and subtilin (10) and in the fragments of the two peptides were, nevertheless, determined by amino acid analysis, only, however, after the addition of mercaptan across the double bonds of dehydroalanine and dehydrobutyrine (19). Using benzylmercaptan, the addition products are S-benzylcysteine (from dehydroalanine) and /3-methyl-S-benzylcysteine (from dehydrobutyrine). The two thioether amino acids are eluted from ion exchange columns of the amino acid analyzer free from interference by other amino acids... 

The first step in the addition of hydrogen sulfide to unsaturated compounds is the formation of thiols, but further reaction can occur, yielding sulfides (thioethers), the latter being favored by using an excess of the olefin.5... 

The free radical addition of a thiol to carbon-carbon double or triple bonds is a well-established reaction. It represents one of the most useful methods of synthesizing sulfides under mild conditions. Since its discovery [5] and its much later formulation as a free-radical chain reaction (Scheme 1) [6], the anti-Markovnikov addition of thiols to unsaturated compounds has been the subject of many reviews [8, 9]. These reactions were originally initiated by thermal decomposition of peroxides or azocompounds, by UV irradiation or by radiolysis [10]. (An example of addition of 1-thiosugar to alkenes initiated by 2,2 -azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) [11] is reported in equation (1)). More recently, organoboranes have been used as initiators and two examples (Et3B and 9-bora-bicyclo [3.3.1.] nonane) are reported in equations (2) and (3) [12,13]. Troyansky and co-workers [14a] achieved the synthesis of macrocycles like 12- and 13-membered sulfur-containing lactones by the double addition of thiyl radical to alkynes. An example is depicted in equation (4). The same approach has also been applied to the construction of 9- and 18-membered crown thioethers [14b]. The radical chain addition of thiyl radicals to differently substituted allenes has been considered in detail by Paste and co-workers [15], who found that preferential attack occurs at the central allenic carbon and gives rise to a resonance-stabilized ally radical. The addition of benzenethiol to allenic esters has been reported and the product formation has been similarly inferred (equation (5)) [16]. 

Possibly an unsaturated compound, e.g. aldehyde, formate, phenolic add, dnna-mate, (thiol, thioether). 

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