Organic compounds of polyvalent sulfur: sulfoxides and sulfones
- Also spelled:
- organosulphur compound
- Also called:
- organic sulfur compound
Two major groups of organosulfur compounds that have no counterparts among organic oxygen compounds are the sulfoxides and sulfones. If the bonding in these compounds is represented with doubly bonded structures—e.g., ―S(=O)― for sulfoxide and ―S(=O)2― for sulfone—the sulfur atoms “see” 10 and 12 valence electrons, respectively. This is more than the octet rule allows, but sulfur is not bound by the octet rule, because it can utilize 3d orbitals in its bonding, as would also be required in compounds such as sulfur hexafluoride (SF6). While there is some theoretical support for the expansion of the sulfur valence shell to accommodate more than eight electrons, the use of 3d orbitals in bonding schemes has been criticized because 3d orbitals are much higher in energy than the sulfur 3s and 3p orbitals. An alternative bonding model invokes polar bonding such as ―S+(―O−)― for sulfoxide and ―S2+(―O−)2− for sulfone. While it is clear that the polar resonance structures contribute to the overall bonding, it is probable that there is some contribution from sulfur 3d orbitals as well. It should be noted that the sulfoxide group also contains a lone pair of electrons on the sulfur atom, requiring that the sulfoxide group be nonplanar, similar to an amine, but quite different from the planar structure of a carbonyl group, ―C(=O)―, to which a sulfoxide group is sometimes compared. An important consequence of the nonplanarity of the sulfoxide group is that sulfoxides of the type R(S=O)R′, where R and R′ are different, are chiral and can in fact be isolated in optically active form, with the sulfone group being tetrahedral. In contrast to amines but similar to phosphines, tricoordinate sulfur (trigonal pyramidal sulfur compounds with three ligands and a lone pair of electrons on sulfur—as found, for example, in sulfinyl chlorides, sulfite esters, sulfoxides, thiosulfinates, and sulfilimines) has a stable configuration, owing to longer bonds to sulfur (less crowding) and a greater amount of lone pair s-character (the percentage of s orbital in the total number of orbitals used in hybridization). Many optically active tricoordinate compounds occur in nature, and optically active sulfur compounds are widely used in the synthesis of other chiral compounds.
Sulfoxides are named by simply designating, in alphabetical order, the two organic groups attached to the ―S(=O)― group, followed by the word sulfoxide (e.g., ethyl methyl sulfoxide, CH3S(O)C2H5), or by forming a prefix from the name of the simpler of the groups using the particle -sulfinyl- (e.g., 4-(methylsulfinyl)benzoic acid). The nomenclature of sulfones is similar to that of sulfoxides; the particle -sulfonyl- is used in complicated cases. Most sulfoxides are colourless liquids or solids with low melting points. The low-molecular-weight sulfoxide dimethyl sulfoxide (CH3S(=O)CH3, DMSO) is water soluble, exhibits low toxicity, and is an excellent solvent. It possesses the unusual ability to rapidly penetrate skin and can carry compounds through the skin in this way. It has some use in veterinary medicine, particularly in treating lameness in horses. Sulfones are usually colourless crystalline solids. Dimethyl sulfone is water soluble. The diaryl sulfones (p-H2NC6H4SO2C6H4NH2-p; e.g., dapsone) and related compounds have been used in the treatment of tuberculosis and leprosy. Polysulfone resins, which incorporate the ―SO2C6H4― unit within a polymer, are used on a large scale for electrical and automotive parts and other applications requiring excellent thermal stability and resistance to oxidation.
Occurrence and preparation
Among compounds isolated from natural sources, S-alkyl cysteine S-oxides (such as S-1- and S-2-propenylcysteine S-oxides)—the precursors to the flavourants of plants of the genus Allium—were the first found to have optical activity at carbon as well as at another element (sulfur). A variety of other sulfoxides have since been isolated from natural sources, including sulforaphane (CH3S(O)(CH2)4NCS) from broccoli, reported to inhibit tumour growth, and zwiebelanes from onion extracts. DMSO is widely found at levels of three parts per million (ppm) or less and is a common component of natural waters, including seawater. Along with dimethyl sulfone, DMSO may be produced through algal metabolism. When found in rainwater, DMSO may result from oxidation of atmospheric dimethyl sulfide, (CH3)2S, which occurs as part of the natural transfer of sulfur of biological origin in the global sulfur cycle.
Sulfoxides are easily prepared by oxidation of sulfides with such reagents as sodium metaperiodate (NaIO4) or hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Commercially, DMSO is made from air/nitric oxide-catalyzed oxidation of dimethyl sulfide, which in turn is a major by-product of the Kraft sulfate process for the manufacture of paper. More-vigorous oxidation of sulfides or sulfoxides—as, for example, with potassium permanganate, KMnO4—produces sulfones. Optically active sulfoxides can be prepared by oxidizing sulfides of type RSR′, where R ≠ R′, with optically active oxidants or microbiological oxidants. Alternatively, optically active sulfoxides can be prepared via reaction of optically active sulfinyl derivatives RS(=O)X, where X = O, N, or S, with reagents such as R′Li or R′MgBr. The solvent sulfolane (thiolane S,S-dioxide) is prepared by first reacting sulfur dioxide with butadiene to give sulfolene (a cyclic, unsaturated, five-membered ring sulfone), followed by hydrogenation to yield sulfolane.
Aromatic sulfones can also be made by the reaction of sulfonyl chlorides with aromatic hydrocarbons. Thiophene S-oxides and S,S-dioxides, formed by oxidation of thiophenes, are far more reactive than the parent thiophenes because of the loss of aromaticity resulting from replacement of one or both pairs of electrons on sulfur by oxygen.
Reactions
Sulfoxides are easily reduced to sulfides with a variety of reducing agents such as lithium aluminum hydride. In contrast, removal of the sulfone oxygens is extremely difficult. The sulfinyl and sulfonyl groups resemble carbonyl groups in the acidifying effect on α-hydrogens (i.e., those hydrogens bonded to the carbon adjacent to the carbonyl or sulfonyl group). Thus, both DMSO and dimethyl sulfone (and related alkyl sulfoxides and sulfones) undergo loss of a proton to bases such as sodium hydride (NaH2), giving the corresponding salts—e.g., CH3S(O)CH2Na and CH3SO2CH2Na. These salts are useful as strong bases as well as reagents for organic synthesis. Sulfoxides undergo a variety of reactions, including both thermal- and enzyme-induced elimination of sulfenic acids; Pummerer rearrangement results in oxidation of the carbon atom adjacent to the sulfoxide group at the same time the sulfoxide is reduced to sulfide.
Ligand coupling reactions of sulfoxides, involving concerted intramolecular coupling of two groups bonded to sulfur, occur via a tetrasubstituted sulfurane intermediate with a trigonal pyramidal structure. Ortho-metallation of a chiral sulfoxide involves lithiation (replacement of an atom or group of atoms by lithium) of the aromatic ring ortho to the sulfoxide group, with coordination of lithium by sulfoxide oxygen. Subsequent reaction with aldehyde occurs in a manner minimizing steric hindrance.
DMSO finds considerable use in organic synthesis as a mild oxidant in a process termed Swern oxidation. Notable rearrangements of the sulfone group include the Ramberg-Bäcklund reaction and the Truce-Smiles rearrangement.
When a garlic clove is cut or crushed, S-2-propenylcysteine S-oxide (alliin) is transformed by the enzyme alliinase into the intermediate compound 2-propenesulfenic acid, CH2=CHCH2S―O―H, which immediately condenses to give the antibiotic substance allicin (allyl 2-propenethiosulfinate, formed at a level of roughly 0.4 percent of the weight of fresh cloves), a sulfinyl compound known as a thiosulfinate. Allicin is the principal flavourant of garlic and has antimicrobial, anticandidal (antiyeast), and antifungal properties; it also inhibits lipid synthesis in vitro. Allicin can be transformed into an unsaturated sulfoxide disulfide called ajoene, which has anticlotting (antithrombotic) properties. When an onion bulb is cut or crushed, an odourless substance in the bulb, S-1-propenylcysteine S-oxide, is similarly transformed into 1-propenesulfenic acid, CH3CH=CH―S―O―H, which rearranges to (Z)-propanethial S-oxide, CH3CH2CH=S+O−, the so-called lacrimatory factor, or tear-inducing substance, of the onion.
Other sulfinyl and sulfonyl compounds
In sulfoxides, R―S(=O)―R′, and sulfones, R―S(=O)2―R′, groups R and R′ both contain a carbon atom bonded to sulfur. A variety of other organosulfur compounds are known of types R―S(=O)―X, Y―S(=O)―X, R―S(=O)2―X, and Y―S(=O)2―X, in which X and Y are elements other than carbon—e.g., oxygen, nitrogen, or a halogen. Three types of organosulfur oxyacids are possible: sulfenic acids, RSOH; sulfinic acids, RS(O)OH; and sulfonic acids, RSO2OH. These compounds are named by attaching the name of the alkane, arene, and so on, to the name for the acid, as in trichloromethanesulfenic acid, ethanesulfinic acid, and p-toluenesulfonic acid. The sulfonic acids are very strong—comparable to hydrochloric acid and other mineral acids—and are the most common of the sulfur-containing acids. The colourless and odourless sulfonic acids and their salts are water soluble. Sulfonic acid salts, particularly those of linear alkylbenzenesulfonates, are very useful and widely used as detergents and synthetic surfactants. Sulfonic acid groups can greatly enhance the water solubility of compounds, as seen with the sulfonic acid derivative of triphenyl phosphine (TPPTS), P(C6H4-m-SO3Na)3. Metal complexes of this compound are used as homogeneous catalysts for the syntheses of organic compounds in two-phase systems (e.g., in a mixture of water and an organic solvent) in industry and the laboratory. A few sulfonic acids occur naturally—for example, the essential nutrient taurine (2-aminoethanesulfonic acid; NH2CH2CH2SO3H), the echinosulfonic acids A–C, and the sulfobacins and other sulfonolipids. Sulfinic acids are weaker (having a pKa of roughly 2.2) and less stable than sulfonic acids. Sulfenic acids and their salts are unstable compounds, are weaker (pKa ≈ 5) than sulfinic acids, and are rarely isolated. Sulfenic acids containing one or three carbon atoms are key intermediates formed when onion, garlic, and related plants are cut or crushed (see above Sulfoxides and sulfones: Reactions).
Aromatic sulfonic acids and sulfonyl chlorides can be prepared by sulfonation of benzene derivatives with fuming sulfuric acid and chlorosulfonic acid, ClSO3H, respectively, while aliphatic sulfonic acids are prepared by vigorous oxidation of thiols or by reaction of amine sulfur trioxide complexes (e.g., Me3NSO3) with organolithium compounds. Trifluoromethanesulfonic acid (triflic acid; CF3SO3H), one of the strongest known organic acids, is manufactured by electrochemical fluorination of methanesulfonyl chloride or fluoride and is used as a polymerization catalyst, in fuel cells, in gasoline production, and in synthesis of organic and organometallic compounds. Reaction of sulfonyl chlorides with amino compounds, R′NH2, gives sulfonamides and related compounds, RSO2NHR′, whereas reaction of alcohols in the presence of tertiary amines yields sulfonates, RSO2OR′.
Carbanions attack sulfonyl chlorides at chlorine rather than sulfur, forming carbon-chlorine rather than carbon-sulfur bonds. Attack at sulfur can be realized by substituting sulfonyl fluorides, RSO2F, for sulfonyl chlorides. Aromatic sulfonyl chlorides can be reduced to aromatic thiols such as thiophenol with zinc metal-hydrochloric acid (Zn/HCl). Sulfinyl chlorides can be made by treating disulfides with chlorine in the presence of acetic anhydride. Sulfinyl chlorides react with amines and alcohols to yield sulfinamides (RS(O)NR′2) and sulfinates (RS(O)OR′), respectively. As previously noted (see above Disulfides and polysulfides and their oxidized products: Reactions), sulfenyl chlorides can be prepared by reaction of disulfides with equimolar quantities of chlorine. Sulfenyl chlorides readily add to olefins to produce chlorine-containing sulfides and react with amines to form sulfenamides, RSNR′2.
Sulfonylureas, RSO2NHC(O)NRR′, which are widely used herbicides, inhibit acetolactic synthase, a key plant enzyme. Anticlotting medical plastics have been prepared containing sulfonated polymers that bind heparin, a natural polysulfate. Sulfonamides, RSO2NH2, played an important role in the development of certain medicines. Sulfanilamide, p-aminobenzenesulfonamide, a compound used in the manufacture of azo dyes, was found to inhibit the growth of bacteria. This discovery led to the development of sulfa drugs, which still find some use today in the treatment of infections, although they have been largely replaced by newer antibiotics, to which bacteria are less resistant. Other sulfonamides include sildenafil (Viagra), a popular drug for the treatment of erectile dysfunction; piroxicam (Feldene), a cyclic sulfonamide used to treat arthritis; and acetazolamide (Diamox), a diuretic used in the treatment of glaucoma.
Esters of sulfuric acid—such as dimethyl sulfate, MeOSO2OMe, and diethyl sulfate, EtOSO2OEt, made from the alcohols methanol and ethanol, respectively, as well as sulfur trioxide/sulfuric acid—are important industrial chemicals used to introduce methyl (Me) and ethyl (Et) groups into organic molecules. Both dimethyl and diethyl sulfate are highly toxic. Esters of sulfurous acid known as dialkyl sulfites—dimethyl sulfite, MeOS(O)OMe, for example—can be made from alcohols and thionyl chloride: 2MeOH + Cl2S=O → MeOS(=O)OMe. Cyclic sulfite esters, made in a similar manner from 1,2-diols (1,2-dialcohols), and their oxidation products, cyclic sulfate esters, find considerable use in organic synthesis.
Optically active unsymmetrically substituted cyclic sulfites are especially useful in the synthesis of other optically active compounds.
Sulfonium and oxosulfonium salts; sulfur ylides
Sulfides react with alkyl halides to give trivalent sulfonium salts, as in the case of trimethyl sulfonium bromide, (CH3)3S+Br−, formed from dimethyl sulfide and methyl bromide. The sulfonium salts are named by putting the names of the several alkyl groups before “sulfonium halide.” Similarly, sulfoxides can be converted into the corresponding oxosulfonium salts, as in the case of trimethyl oxosulfonium chloride, [(CH3)3S=O]+Cl−, converted from dimethyl sulfoxide and methyl chloride. Like sulfoxides, sulfonium and oxosulfonium salts are chiral and can be isolated in optically active form if the attached carbon groups are all different, as in RR′R″S+ and RR′R″S(=O)+. The first known optically active sulfur compounds were sulfonium salts, prepared in 1900. A number of sulfonium salts occur in nature; some examples include S-adenosyl methionine, a key biological source of the methyl group; thetin or 3-dimethylsulfonium propanoate, (CH3)2S+CH2CH2CO2−; and certain (2-hydroxyethyl)dimethylsulfoxonium salts, (CH3)2S+(O)CH2CH2OH. The latter two compounds occur in marine organisms. Thetin is an example of a zwitterion, a compound that is an internal ion pair; in the name of this compound, “dimethylsulfonium” precedes the name of the root compound. In the above examples of sulfonium salts, sulfur is bonded to three carbon groups, but sulfonium salts are known in which one or more of the carbon groups are replaced by other elements such as oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, or a halogen.
Nucleophilic attack at the carbon bonded to sulfonium sulfur forms the basis of biological methylations, as illustrated by the reaction of S-adenosylmethionine.
Sulfonium and oxosulfonium salts react with bases, each losing a proton to give zwitterions of a special type, with the negative charge on the carbon adjacent to the positively charged sulfonium sulfur. These compounds are called sulfonium and oxosulfonium ylides, respectively—or, more broadly, sulfur ylides, by analogy with phosphorus ylides employed in the Wittig reaction. The structures of sulfonium ylides and oxosulfonium ylides are analogous to those of sulfoxides and sulfones, respectively. Stabilization of the negative charge on carbon is primarily due to the high polarizability of sulfur. While phosphorus ylides react with aldehydes and ketones to give olefins, sulfur ylides instead give epoxides (oxiranes). This is an important reaction in organic synthesis. If sulfur ylides derived from optically active sulfonium and oxosulfonium salt precursors are used, then optically active ylides can be prepared and these can be used in asymmetric syntheses of chiral epoxides and other products. Sulfonium and aminosulfoxonium ylides have also been used to synthesize “designer” polymers (e.g., polymers containing various groups not obtainable through conventional polymerization). Exposure of triaryl sulfonium salts to ultraviolet light releases protons. This process of photogeneration of acid has important applications.
Sulfuranes: hypervalent organosulfur compounds
In organosulfur compounds of type SR4 and SR6, analogous to the well-known fluorosulfur compounds SF4 and SF6, the valence of sulfur has been expanded beyond the normal octet to a dectet or dodecet, respectively. Pentacoordinate compounds SR4, called σ-sulfuranes, typically have four ligands and one lone pair of electrons and are classified as (10-S-4), in which, according to the Martin nomenclature scheme, the number preceding the central atom S refers to the total number of electrons shared by S, and the number following S, the number of ligands. These compounds adopt a trigonal bipyramidal structure in which the lone pair always occupies an equatorial position. (For a discussion of molecular shapes, see chemical bonding: Bonds between atoms.)
Among the four ligands, the two that are most electronegative take the apical positions (a), whereas the less-electronegative groups occupy the remaining two equatorial positions (e). The central sulfur in σ-sulfuranes is described as being part of a three-centre, four-electron bond. A related type of compound is the sulfurane S-oxide, classified as (10-S-5), formed by oxidation of a sulfurane. Hexacoordinate compounds SR6, with six ligands, called persulfuranes, have a square bipyramidal structure and are classified as (12-S-6). The σ-sulfuranes, sulfurane S-oxides, and persulfuranes are termed hypervalent compounds because their valences are expanded beyond eight. Because of this fact, these types of compounds are relatively unstable, with the central atom seeking to return to the octet state by extruding one or more ligands. For example, the σ-sulfurane (C6F5)4S, named tetrakis-(pentafluorophenyl)sulfurane, prepared at temperatures below 0 °C (32 °F), decomposes to C6F5C6F5 and C6F5SC6F5 upon warming. On the other hand, if protected from moisture, acyclic and cyclic dialkyloxysulfuranes of type R2(R′O)2S are stable at room temperature and find utility as reagents in organic synthesis.
Eric Block