N-trifluoroacetyl arenesulfenamides, effective precursors for synthesis of unsymmetrical disulfides and sulfenamides

N-Trifluoroacetyl arenesulfenamides (3) were effective precursors for the synthesis of unsymmetrical disulfides (4) and sulfenamides (5). Reactions of 3 with a variety of aromatic thiols at room temperature were generally complete within 5 min and gave unsymmetrical diaryl disulfides in high yields. Aralkyl disulfides were isolated in high yields from the reaction of 3 with aliphatic thiols. The nucleophilic substitution reactions of 3 with amines proceeded smoothly and provided N-substituted sulfenamides in good to excellent yields. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.