CpMn(CO)3-Catalyzed Photoconversion of Thiols into Disulfides and Dihydrogen

The UV photolysis of CpMn(CO)3 with thiols at room temperature effected the following catalytic transformation: 2 RSH → R2S2 + H2. This reaction is a cleaner and greener way toward making disulfides, as it produces dihydrogen as the only side-product. The manganese system exhibits high chemoselectivity as the transformation proceeds efficiently even in the presence of numerous functional groups. A manganese dicarbonyl complex, CpMn(CO)2RSH, and cyclopentadiene have also been detected using FTIR and NMR spectroscopic techniques, respectively. Based on our experimental data, a mechanism has been proposed to account for the catalysis.