Dedicated to Professor Edgardo Giovannini on the occasion of his 70th birthday (25.VI1.79)
SummaryThe bis (methy1thio)benzenes 3a-3c are oxidized to the methylsulfinyl-methylthiobenzenes 4a-4c on a Pt-anode in good yields.In preceding publications [ 11 [2] we had discussed the electrochemical oxidation of some dialkoxybenzenes, e.g. the conversion 1 ---f 2. Although the voltammetric behaviour of the analogous disulfur compounds has been reported in detail The anodic oxidation of some simple sulfides has been investigated [ 5 ] , e.g. thioanisole has been reported to give 74% methylsulfiny1benzr:ne on Pt [6], but for these examples the conventional oxidation of sulfides to sulfoxides by sodium metaperiodate [7] is superior, giving better yields and being easier to handle. We now report on the electrochemical oxidation of the bis (methy1thio)benzenes 3a-3c.Electrolysis of these compounds in MeOH/THF 5 : 1, the latter being added for solubility reasons, or in CH,CN/H20 99 : 1 on Pt-electrodes with tetraethylammoniumperchlorate (TEAP) as electrolyte leads to the formation of the methylsulfinyl-methylthiobenzenes 4a-4c in good yields, the oxidation of the second methylthio group or of the sulfoxide to the sulfone beginning to compete after a much higher degree of conversion 3 + 4 than with any chemical oxidizing agent. For illustration, 4a had only been obtained from 3a in a four-step reaction [8], while compounds as 4b and 4c had not been isolated at all, only the bis(methy1-sulfony1)benzenes being known. The electrochemical oxidation of 3a-3c to 4a-4c being much more selective than any chemical oxidation is i.herefore a synthetic useful reaction. NMR.-and mass-spectral data of 4a-4c are summarized in the Tuble.In contrast to compounds like 1, no anodic addition [91 has been observed with 3a-3c. In methanolic KOH no conversion 3 + 4 takes place, presumably due to reduction of the radical cation by the nucleophile CH,O-. Acetate or pyridine also did not add to the aromatic ring. No benzylic substitution was observed with either 3c or the monothiomethyl compound 3d. Less than 5% of 2 were detected after oxidation of 3 e in MeOH, arising most probably from an anodic substitutiodanodic addition sequence. All these results indicate that the positive