Oxidation of thiols to bisulfides by elemental sulfur without contamination by higher polysulfides

Article abstract of DOI:10.1080/10426509808045491

Dialkyl disulfides were prepared in near quantitative yield by oxidation of alkanethiols with elemental sulfur using NaOH and ethoxylated alcohols as catalysts. Tergitol 15-S-7 was one of several ethoxylated alcohols which was used. Contamination by trisulfides was essentially eliminated in the disulfide products. The ratios of disulfide to trisulfide ranged from 100/0 to 99.6/0.4 for reactions with primary and secondary alkanethiols (100% excess) such as 1-propanethiol, 1-octanethiol, 2-propanethiol, and 2-butanethiol. The process did not work for tertiary alkanethiols such as 2-methyl-2-propanethiol where the trisulfide was greatly favored.

Full text of DOI:10.1080/10426509808045491

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Phosphorus, Sulfur, and Silicon
and the Related Elements
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OXIDATION OF THIOLS TO
DISULFIDES BY ELEMENTAL
SULFUR WITHOUT
CONTAMINATION BY HIGHER
POLYSULFIDES
a
a
James E. Shaw & Marilyn G. McAfee
a
Phillips Petroleum Company , Research Center
Building 92-F, Bartlesville, Oklahoma, 74004
Published online: 04 Oct 2006.
To cite this article: James E. Shaw & Marilyn G. McAfee (1998) OXIDATION OF
THIOLS TO DISULFIDES BY ELEMENTAL SULFUR WITHOUT CONTAMINATION BY HIGHER
POLYSULFIDES, Phosphorus, Sulfur, and Silicon and the Related Elements, 143:1,
125-131, DOI: 10.1080/10426509808045491
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10426509808045491
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