S-(HYDROXYMETHYL) 4-HYDROXYPHENYL SULFIDES: SYNTHESIS AND SELECTED CHEMISTRY OF SOME STABLE HEMIMERCAPTALS

Abstract
The base-catalyzed reaction of 3,5-di-tert-butyl-4-hydroxybenzenethiol (1a), 3-tert-butyl-4-hydroxy-5-methylbenzenethiol (1b), and 4-hydroxybenzenethiol (1c) with formaldehyde gave the corresponding hemimercaptal derivatives 2a–c, respectively. The stable hemimercaptals 2a–c were characterized by IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, MS and elemental analysis. The ester of 2a with 3-(3,5-di-tert-butyl-4-hydroxy-phenyl)propanoic acid (3a) was prepared using triphenylphosphine and diethyl azodicarboxylate (Mitsunobu conditions).