Many aromatic hydrocarbons and halogenated hydrocarbons are biologically conjugated with the amino acid, cysteine, and are excreted as mercapturic acids, which are acetylated S-aryl derivatives of cysteine. As a consequence of their biological occurrence many of these compounds have been prepared synthetically. There appears to be no report, however, of the occurrence or synthesis of any of the corresponding derivatives of homocysteine.A considerable number of S-alkyl derivatives of both of these two amino acids were prepared in this laboratory (1) and it was noted that the specific rotations of most of the thioether derivatives of L-homocysteine, when measured for a 1% solution in N hydrochloric acid, were about +23" and that the numerical value
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