A Novel Reaction of Aromatic Sulfonyl Chlorides and Thiols

Abstract

According to the literature, the reaction of aromatic sulfonyl chlorides with aromatic thiols gives equimolar amounts of disulfide and sulfinic acid.¹⁻³ The reaction sequence is:⁴

Under certainconditions the reaction can be partially arresedat the first stage, and thiosulfonate can be isolated in yields up to 25 %.⁵ The possibility of synt he sizing disulfidesexclusively from thiols and sulfonyl chlorides has receivedlittle attention, with the exception of a few cases in which cyclicdisulfides were prepared.^6,7