DIATOMIC SULFUR DETECTION BY BUTADIENE AND NORBORNENE - A CAUTIONARY NOTE

In the presence of the recognised S-2 trapping agents, norbomene and 2 ,3-dimethyl-1,3-butadiene, thermolysis of both benzotrithiadiazacyclon onene (1) and the previously reported S-2 precursor dibenzyloxydisulfi de (7), generates typical diatomic sulfur trapping products. However t he implication that trithiaaryldicarboxiamides are a new class of S-2 precursors must be treated with caution as control experiments, involv ing thermolysis of elemental sulfur, indicate that detection of the pr eviously accepted S-2 trapping products is not conclusive evidence of the intermediacy of S-2. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.