Thermochemistry of 1,3-dithiacyclohexane 1-oxide (1,3-dithiane sulfoxide): calorimetric and computational study

The enthalpies of combustion and sublimation of 1,3-dithiacyclohexane 1-oxide (1,3-dithiane sulfoxide, 2) were measured by a rotating-bomb combustion calorimeter and the Knudsen effusion technique, and the gas-phase enthalpy of formation was determined, DeltafH degrees m(g) = -98.0 +/- 1.9 kJ mol(-1). This value is not as large (negative) as could have been expected from comparison with thermochemical data available for the thiane/thiane oxide reference system. High-level ab initio molecular orbital calculations at the MP2(FULL)/6-31G(3df,2p) level were performed, and the optimized molecular and electronic structures of 2 afforded valuable information on (1) the relative conformational energies of 2-axial and 2-equatorial--the latter being 7.1 kJ mol(-1) more stable than 2-axial, (2) the possible involvement of nS --> sigma*(C-S(O)) hyperconjugation in 2-equatorial, (3) the lack of computational evidence for sigma(S-C) --> sigma*(S-O) stereoelectronic interaction in 2-equatorial, and (4) the relevance of a repulsive electrostatic interaction between sulfur atoms in 1,3-dithiane sulfoxide, which apparently counterbalances any nS --> sigma*(C-S(O)) stabilizing hyperconjugative interaction and accounts for the lower than expected enthalpy of formation for sulfoxide 2.