Efficient Synthesis of Unsymmetrical Disulfides through Sulfenic Acids

Unsymmetrical disulfides, some of which are biologically interesting, were prepared by the in situ generation of sulfenic acids from suitable sulfinyl precursors and their coupling with various thiols. This methodology represents an efficient and mild procedure to obtain disulfides in excellent yields. It allows the presence of base/acid and/or thermolabile functional groups in both the sulfenic acid and the thiol on the basis of the choice of suitable sulfenic acid precursors and offers wide chances of modulating the construction of the disulfide bridge between different structural skeletons such as homo- and heteroaromatic, amino acidic and sugar residues.