Synthesis and Evaluation of Cyclic Sulfite Diesters as Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) Donors

Although sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) finds widespread use in the food industry as its hydrated form, sulfite, a number of aspects of SO 2 biology remain to be completely understood. Among the tools available for intracellular enhancement of SO 2 , most suffer from poor cell permeability and a lack of control over SO 2 release. We report 1,2-cyclic sulfite diesters as a new class of reliable SO 2 donors that dissociate in buffer through a nucleophilic displacement to produce SO 2 with tuneable release profiles. We provide data in support of the suitability of these SO 2 donors to enhance intracellular levels of SO 2 at an efficiency superior to sodium bisulfite, the most commonly used SO 2 donor for cellular studies.