The Autoxidation of Triaryl Trithioarsenites, (ArS)<sub>3</sub>As: Evidence for Binding and Activation of Triplet Dioxygen by Arsenic(III)
作者:Maria N. Haikou、Panayiotis V. Ioannou
DOI:10.1080/104265091000589
日期:2006.2
Triaryl trithioarsenites, (ArS)(3)As, are oxidized by air to As2O3 and ArSSAr. In two cases the parent "thiol" (pyrid-2-thione and 1-hydroxypyrid-2-thione) is coproduced. The oxidation, in nonprotic solvents, is favored by electron-withdrawing groups at the para position of the phenyl group. The products obtained in nonprotic solvents were rationalized by assuming that the binding of the triplet dioxygen to arsenic(III) gives a triplet diradical, (ArS)(3)As-O-O, or an arsenadioxirane, (ArS)(3)As(O-2), intermediate, which decomposes after nucleophilic attack by another (ArS)(3)As molecule. In protic solvents a zwitterion, (ArS)(3)As+-O-O-, and in the presence of moisture a hydroperoxy arsenic(V) compound, (ArS)(3)As(OH)-O-OH, may be intermediates in the air oxidation of some aromatic trithioarsenites. These data tend to indicate that arsenic(III) bound to suitable groups can directly bind dioxygen, a property which may have implications in chemotherapy and carcinogenesis.