Oxidations at Sulfur Centers by Aqueous Hypochlorous Acid and Hypochlorite: Cl + Versus O Atom Transfer.

Sulfur-containing compounds are known to be susceptible to oxidation by aqueous HOCl, but the factors affecting the rates of these reactions are not well-established. Here we report on the kinetics of oxidation of thiosulfate, thiourea, thioglycolate, (methylthio)acetate, tetrathionate, dithiodiglycolate, and dithiodipropionate at 25 °C and 0.4 M ionic strength. These reactions obey the general rate law -d[OCl- ]/dt = (kOCl- [OCl- ] + kHOCl [HOCl])[substrate] with some exceptions: tetrathionate and the two disulfides undergo rate-limiting hydrolysis at high pH, and dithiodiglycolate has an additional term in the rate law that is second order in [substrate]. The reactions of HOCl are believed to have a Cl+ transfer mechanism, and in the case of thiosulfate the rate of hydrolysis of the ClS2 O3 - intermediate was determined. In the case of thiourea evidence was obtained for thiourea monoxide as a long-lived product. It is shown that sulfite and species with terminal sulfur atoms have kHOCl values in the vicinity of 1 × 109 M-1 s-1 , while SCN- and thioethers react somewhat more slowly; tetrathionate, trithionate, and disulfides react much more slowly. Comparison of the rate constants with those for oxidation of these sulfur substrates by H2 O2 and [Pt(CN)4 Cl2 ]2- shows that HOCl reacts a few orders of magnitude more rapidly than [Pt(CN)4 Cl2 ]2- and ∼9 orders of magnitude more rapidly than H2 O2 . Many of the kHOCl values are leveled by the high electrophilicity of HOCl. It is proposed that the kOCl- values correspond to oxygen-atom transfer mechanisms, as supported by LFERS (linear free energy relationships) relating these rate constants to those for reactions of H2 O2 and [Pt(CN)4 Cl2 ]2- .