Electroinitiated Oxygenation of Alkenyl Sulfides and Alkynes in the Presence of Thiophenol

Article abstract of DOI:10.1021/jo00070a021

Electrolysis of alkenyl sulfides in the presence of thiophenol with bubbling of molecular oxygen gave the corresponding α-(phenylthio) carbonyl compounds with the consumption of a catalytic amount of electricity.An electroinitiated radical chain mechanism has been proposed.The reaction also took place without electrochemical initiation, but much (5-50 times) longer reaction time was required for the completion of the reaction.The potential utility of the present reaction in organic synthesis is demonstrated by the net 1,2-transposition of a phenylthio group and a carbonyl group.The electroinitiated oxygenation of ketene dithioacetals also proceeded smoothly to give the corresponding α-(phenylthio) thiol esters.It was also found that the electroinitiated oxygenation of alkynes in the presence of thiophenol gave α-(phenylthio) carbonyl compounds.A mechanism involving the initial formation of alkenyl sulfides has been proposed.