Deoxygenation of Sulfoxides to Sulfides with Thionyl Chloride and Triphenylphosphine: Competition with the Pummerer Reaction

Although a number of methods have been developed to reduce sulfoxides to sulfides, many of these processes are limited by side reactions, low yields, poorly available reagents, or harsh reaction conditions. We recently studied the reaction of various sulfoxides with SOCl₂ and Ph₃P. We were able to obtain the corresponding sulfides in excellent yields (>90%) when aliphatic and aromatic sulfoxides were treated with SOCl₂ as a catalyst and Ph₃P in THF at room temperature

Phthalic Anhydride-Mediated Direct Glycosylation of Anomeric Hydroxy Arabinofuranose: Synthesis of Repeating Oligoarabinofuranoside and Tetradecasaccharide Arabinan Motif of Mycobacterial Cell Wall

An efficient direct phthalic anhydride-mediated one-pot glycosylation method employing anomeric hydroxy arabinofuranose as glycosyl donor and triflic anhydride as activating agent has been developed. This method afforded the desired di- and oligoarabinofuranosides in good yields even in gram scale glycosylation when <i>t</i>-butylphthalic anhydride was used. Moreover, our new method can be further extended to the syntheses of repeating oligoarabinofuranoside and tetradecasaccharide arabinan motif found in mycobacterial cell wall

Topologically Reversible Transformation of Tricyclic Polymer into Polyring Using Disulfide/Thiol Redox Chemistry

A polyring capable of reversible growth and dissociation is synthesized from a tricyclic polystyrene (PS) prepared by combining atom transfer radical polymerization of a 4-arm star-shaped PS and azide–alkyne click reactions. In the preparation of the tricyclic PS, a coupling agent containing a disulfide linkage is used in the click cyclization reaction. The reduction of the disulfide linkage in the tricyclic PS results in an 8-shaped PS with thiol groups which on oxidation leads to a high molecular weight polyring. The topology transformation between the polymers occurs via reversible redox reaction of disulfide/thiol. The high molecular weight of the polyring is realized due to the formation of flexible S–S linkage between the 8-shaped PSs. Their structures are confirmed by FT-IR, ¹H NMR, SEC, and MALDI-TOF MS analyses. In addition, molecular weight control of the polyring according to polymer concentration has been confirmed through SEC analysis