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system composed of 15 different disulfides (Fig. 2). This demon-
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In conclusion, we have described a novel and efficient
method to catalyze disulfide metathesis via the use of phos-
phines. The reaction proceeds very fast under mild conditions
in polar solvents, efficiently catalyzed by PCy3 and P(NEt2)3.
This new catalytic process can for example be used as a very
powerful tool for dynamic system generation.
This work was supported by the Swedish Research Council,
and the European Commission (contract no MRTN-CT-2005-
19561). Astrid Kannaste and Oscar Norberg are gratefully
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This journal is The Royal Society of Chemistry 2008
Chem. Commun., 2008, 6603–6605 | 6605