Structures of Diethynyl Sulfide and Bis(phenylethynyl) Sulfide

Fast and highly chemoselective alkynylation of thiols with hypervalent iodine reagents enabled through a low energy barrier concerted mechanism

Among all functional groups, alkynes occupy a privileged position in synthetic and medicinal chemistry, chemical biology, and materials science. Thioalkynes, in particular, are highly useful, as they combine the enhanced reactivity of the triple bond with a sulfur atom frequently encountered in bioactive compounds and materials. Nevertheless, general methods to access these compounds are lacking. In this article, we describe the mechanism and full scope of the alkynylation of thiols using ethynyl benziodoxolone (EBX) hypervalent iodine reagents. Computations led to the discovery of a new, three-atom concerted transition state with a very low energy barrier, which rationalizes the high reaction rate. On the basis of this result, the scope of the reaction was extended to the synthesis of aryl- and alkyl-substituted alkynes containing a broad range of functional groups. New sulfur nucleophiles such as thioglycosides, thioacids, and sodium hydrogen sulfide were also alkynylated successfully to lead to the most general and practical method yet reported for the synthesis of thioalkynes.

Ring Opening of 2,5-Didehydrothiophene: Matrix Photochemistry of C4H2S Isomers

Irradiation (lambda > 254 nm) of matrix-isolated 2,5-diiodothiophene (10) gives rise to IR bands assigned to ethynylthioketene (6). Diethynyl sulfide (3), which would form in the process of retro-Bergman cyclization of the incipient 2,5-didehydrothiophene (4), is not detected. Under the same irradiation conditions, matrix-isolated diethynyl sulfide (3) rearranges to thioketene 6 and butatrienethione (5), the global minimum on C4H2S potential energy surface. The photochemical formation of thioketene 6 from either diyl 4 or sulfide 3 may be interpreted in line with a recent computational prediction on the thermal ring opening of diyl 4, which favors C-S bond cleavage, leading to 6, over C-C bond cleavage, leading to 3. Photolysis of matrix-isolated 3,4-thiophenedicarboxylic acid anhydride (11) enables the observation of the photoequilibration of three low-energy C4H2S isomers, butatrienethione (5), ethynylthioketene (6), and butadiynylthiol (7), via apparent [1,3]-hydrogen shifts.

s-trans-1,3-Butadiene and Isotopomers: Vibrational Spectra, Scaled Quantum-Chemical Force Fields, Fermi Resonances, and C−H Bond Properties

Quadratic quantum-chemical force fields have been determined for s-trans-1,3-butadiene using B3LYP and MP2 methods. Basis sets included 6-311++G, cc-pVTZ, and aug-cc-pVTZ. Scaling of the force fields was based on frequency data for up to 11 isotopomers, some of these data being original. A total of 18 scale factors were employed, with, in addition, an alteration to one off-diagonal force constant in the A(u) species. MP2 calculations without f functions in the basis perform badly in respect of out-of-plane bending mode frequencies. Centrifugal distortion constants and harmonic contributions to vibration-rotation constants (alphas) have been calculated. Existing experimental frequency data for all isotopomers are scrutinized, and a number of reassignments and diagnoses of Fermi resonance made, particularly in the nu(CH) region. The three types of CH bond in butadiene were characterized in terms of bond length and isolated CH stretching frequency, the latter reflecting data in the nu(CD) region. Broad agreement was achieved with earlier results from local mode studies. Differences in CH bond properties resemble similar differences in propene. A simplified sample setup for recording FT-Raman spectra of gases was applied to four isotopomers of butadiene.

Equilibrium Structures for Butadiene and Ethylene: Compelling Evidence for Π-Electron Delocalization in Butadiene

Equilibrium structures have been determined for s-trans-1,3-butadiene and ethylene after adjusting the rotational constants obtained from rotational spectroscopy by vibration-rotation constants calculated from the results of quantum chemical calculations. For butadiene, the formal C=C bond length is 1.338 A, and the formal C-C bond length is 1.454 A. For ethylene, the C=C bond length is 1.3305 A. These values appear to be good to 0.001 A. It is shown for the first time that pi-electron delocalization has the structural consequences of increasing the length of the formal double bond by 0.007 A and decreasing the length of the formal single bond by 0.016 A. Comparisons are made with structures computed with several quantum chemical models. The MP2/cc-pVTZ results agree best with the new re structure.

Ring Opening of 2,5-Didehydrothiophene: Structures and Rearrangements of C4H2S Isomers

Electronic structures and rearrangement pathways of several C4H2S isomers are computationally investigated by methods based on coupled cluster theory and density functional theory. Six singlet C4H2S isomers lie within ca. 30 kcal/mol above butatrienethione (6), the apparent global minimum. Ethynylthioketene (7) lies only 2 kcal/mol higher in energy than cumulene 6. Two open-chain isomers, butadiynylthiol (8) and diethynyl sulfide (9), reside ca. 9 and 24 kcal/mol above 6, respectively. Lying 30 kcal/mol above 6, two cyclic singlet isomers, ethynylthiirene (10) and cyclopropenylidenemethanthione (11), are nearly degenerate in energy. Thiophene-2,5-diyl (12) lies substantially higher in energy than 6 (ca. 45 kcal/mol) and is predicted to rearrange preferentially by C-S bond cleavage, leading to thioketene 7, rather than by C-C bond cleavage, leading to diethynyl sulfide (9; retro-Bergman cyclization). Accurate spectroscopic properties of these C4H2S isomers, as well as an understanding of their rearrangement pathways, should facilitate the detection and characterization of these isomers in the laboratory and the interstellar medium.

Photochemistry of diethynyl sulfides: a cycloaromatization for the formation of five-membered rings

The first five-membered ring cycloaromatization reaction has been demonstrated. Photoirradiation of bis(phenylethynyl) sulfide in hexanes/1,4-cyclohexadiene produces 3,4-diphenylthiophene through the presumed intermediacy of 2,5-didehydrothiophene. In addition, phenylacetylene is produced in this reaction consistent with competing direct carbon-sulfur cleavage. For reactions in ethanol or 2-propanol production of the thiophene is accompanied by the formation of phenylacetylene and a thionoester of the corresponding alcohol. Thiophene products also result from the irradiation of other diethynyl sulfides. [reaction: see text]