Sulfonyl halide
Sulfonyl halide groups occur when a sulfonyl functional group is singly bonded to a halogen atom. They have the general formula R-SO2-X where X is a halogen. The stability of sulfonyl halides decreases in the order fluorides>chlorides>bromides>iodides, all four types being well known. The sulfonyl chlorides are of dominant importance in this series.[1]
Structure
Sulfonyl halides have tetrahedral sulfur centres attached to two oxygen atoms, an organic radical, and a halide. In a representative example, methanesulfonyl chloride, the S=O, S-C, and S-Cl bond distances are respectively 1.424, 1.763, and 2.046 Å.[2]
Sulfonyl chlorides
Sulfonic acid chlorides, or sulfonyl chlorides, are a sulfonyl halide with the general formula R-SO2Cl. They are generally colourless compounds that are sensitive to water.
Production
Arylsulfonyl chlorides are prepared industrially in a two-step, one-pot reaction from the arene and chlorosulfuric acid:[3]
- C6H6 + HOSO2Cl → C6H5SO3H + HCl
- C6H5SO3H + HOSO2Cl → C6H5SO2Cl + H2SO4
The intermediate benzenesulfonic acid can be chlorinated with thionyl chloride as well. Benzenesulfonyl chloride, the most important sulfonyl halide, can also be produced by treating sodium benzenesulfonate with phosphorus(V) chlorides.[4]
Phenyldiazonium chloride reacts with sulfur dioxide and HCl to give the sulfonyl chloride:
- [C6H5N2]Cl + SO2 → C6H5SO2Cl + N2
For alkylsulfonyl chlorides, one synthetic procedure is the Reed reaction:
- RH + SO2 + Cl2 → RSO2Cl + HCl
Reactions
The most obvious reaction is their tendency to hydrolyse to the corresponding sulfonic acid:
- C6H5SO2Cl + H2O → C6H5SO3H + HCl
These compounds react readily with nucleophiles other than water, like alcohols and amines (see Hinsberg reaction). If the nucleophile is an alcohol the product is a sulfonate ester, if it is an amine the product is a sulfonamide. Using sodium sulfite as the nucleophilic reagent, sulfonyl chlorides convert to the sulfinate salts, e.g., C6H5SO2Na.
Sulfonyl chlorides readily undergo Friedel–Crafts reactions with arenes giving sulfones, for example:
- RSO2Cl + C6H6 → RSO2C6H5 + HCl
The desulfonation of arylsulfonyl chlorides provides a way to make aryl chlorides:
- ArSO2Cl → ArCl + SO2
1,2,4-Trichlorobenzene is prepared industrially in this way.
Treatment of alkanesulfonyl chlorides having α-hydrogens with amine bases can give sulfenes, highly unstable species that can be trapped:
- RCH2SO2Cl → RCH=SO2
The only industrially important sulfonyl chloride is the benzene derivative. In the laboratory, useful reagents include tosyl chloride, brosyl chloride, nosyl chloride and mesyl chloride.
Sulfonyl fluorides
Sulfonyl fluorides have the general formula R-SO2-F and can be important sulfonyl halide synthetic precursors. For example, "most, if not all" industrially synthesized perfluorooctanesulfonyl derivatives, such as PFOS, have the sulfonyl fluoride as their precursor.[5] Sulfonyl fluorides are used in molecular biology as reactive probes. They specifically react with residues based on serine, threonine, tyrosine, lysine, cysteine and histidine. The fluorides are more resistant than the corresponding chlorides and are therefore better suited to this task [6] A facile GST fusion protein immobilization approach utilizing sulfonyl fluoride containing small molecule was recently developed.[7]
Sulfonyl bromides
Sulfonyl bromides have the general formula R-SO2-Br. In contrast to sulfonyl chlorides, sulfonyl bromides readily undergo light-induced homolysis affording sulfonyl radicals, which can add to olefins, as illustrated by the use of bromomethanesulfonyl bromide, BrCH2SO2Br in Ramberg-Bäcklund reaction syntheses.[8][9]
Sulfonyl iodides
Sulfonyl iodides, having the general formula R-SO2-I, are quite light-sensitive. Perfluoroalkanesulfonyl iodides, prepared by reaction between silver perfluoroalkanesulfinates and iodine in dichloromethane at −30 °C, react with olefins to form the normal adducts, RFSO2CH2CHIR and the adducts resulting from loss of SO2, RFCH2CHIR.[10] Arenesulfonyl iodides, prepared from reaction of arenesulfinates or arenehydrazides with iodine, can be used as initiators to facilitate the synthesis of poly(methyl methacrylate) containing C–I, C–Br and C–Cl chain ends.[11]
In popular culture
In the episode "Encyclopedia Galactica" of his TV series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, Carl Sagan speculates that some intelligent extraterrestrial beings might have a genetic code based on polyaromatic sulfonyl halides instead of DNA.
References
- ↑ Drabowicz, J; Kiełbasiński, P; Łyżwa, P; Zając, A; Mikołajczyk, M (2008). Kambe, N, ed. Alkanesulfonyl Halides. Science of Synthesis. 39. pp. 19–38. ISBN 9781588905307.
- ↑ Hargittai, Magdolna; Hargittai, István (1973). "On the molecular structure of methane sulfonyl chloride as studied by electron diffraction". J. Chem. Phys. 59: 2513. doi:10.1063/1.1680366.
- ↑ Otto Lindner, Lars Rodefeld "Benzenesulfonic Acids and Their Derivatives" in Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry 2005, Wiley-VCH, Weinheim. doi:10.1002/14356007.a03_507
- ↑ Roger Adams; C. S. Marvel; H. T. Clarke; G. S. Babcock; T. F. Murray (1921). "Benzenesulfonyl chloride". Org. Synth. 1: 21.; Coll. Vol., 1, p. 84
- ↑ Lehmler HJ (2005). "Synthesis of environmentally relevant fluorinated surfactants—a review". Chemosphere. 58 (11): 1471–96. PMID 15694468. doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2004.11.078.
- ↑ Narayanan, Arjun; Jones, Lyn H. (2015). "Sulfonyl fluorides as privileged warheads in chemical biology". Chem. Sci. 6: 2650–2659. doi:10.1039/C5SC00408J.
- ↑ Zhou, Yiqing; Guo, Tianlin; Tang, Guanghui; Wu, Hui; Wong, Nai-Kei; Pan, Zhengying (2014-10-23). "Site-Selective Protein Immobilization by Covalent Modification of GST Fusion Proteins". Bioconjugate Chemistry. 25 (11): 1911–1915. doi:10.1021/bc500347b.
- ↑ Block E; Aslam M (1993). "A General Synthetic Method for the Preparation of Conjugated Dienes from Olefins using Bromomethanesulfonyl Bromide: 1,2-Dimethylenecyclohexane". Organic Syntheses. Coll. Vol. 8: 212.
- ↑ Block, E; Aslam, M; Eswarakrishnan, V; Gebreyes, K; Hutchinson, J; Iyer, R; Laffitte, J-A; Wall, A (1986). "α-Haloalkanesulfonyl Bromides in Organic Synthesis. 5. Versatile Reagents for the Synthesis of Conjugated Polyenes, Enones and 1,3-Oxathiole 1,1-Dioxides". J. Amer. Chem. Soc. 108: 4568–4580. doi:10.1021/ja00275a051.
- ↑ Huang W-Y, Hu L-Q (1989). "The chemistry of perfluoroalkanesulfonyl iodides". Journal of Fluorine Chemistry. 44 (1): 25–44. doi:10.1016/S0022-1139(00)84369-9.
- ↑ Percec V, Grigoras C (2005). "Arenesulfonyl iodides: The third universal class of functional initiators for the metal-catalyzed living radical polymerization of methacrylates and styrenes.". Journal of Polymer Science Part A: Polymer Chemistry. 43 (17): 3920–3931. Bibcode:2005JPoSA..43.3920P. doi:10.1002/pola.20860.