(S,2S,3R)-2-(2-Methyl-propane-2-sulfin-amido)-3-phenyl-butyronitrile

Sulfides are the sulfur analog of ethers, just as thiols are the sulfur analog of alcohol. Like ethers, sulfides also consist of two hydrocarbon groups bonded to the central sulfur atom. Depending upon the type of groups present, sulfides can be symmetrical or asymmetrical. Symmetrical sulfides can be prepared via an SN2 reaction between 2 equivalents of an alkyl halide and one equivalent of sodium sulfide.

In an organic molecule, free rotation about the carbon-carbon single bond results in energetically different conformers of the molecule. Due to this rotation, called the internal rotation, ethane has two major conformations — staggered and eclipsed.
Staggered conformation is a low energy and more stable conformation with the C-H bonds on the front carbon placed at 60°dihedral angles relative to the C-H bonds on the back carbon, leading to a reduced torsional strain. In staggered ethane, the...

Chirality is most prevalent in carbon-based tetrahedral compounds, but this important facet of molecular symmetry extends to sp3-hybridized nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur centers, including trivalent molecules with lone pairs. Here, the lone pair behaves as a functional group in addition to the other three substituents to form an analogous tetrahedral center that can be chiral.
A consequence of chirality is the need for enantiomeric resolution. While this is theoretically possible for all...

The concept of prochirality leads to the nomenclature of the individual faces of a molecule and plays a crucial role in the enantioselective reaction. It is a concept where two or more achiral molecules react to produce chiral products. A typical process is the reaction of an achiral ketone to generate a chiral alcohol. Here, the achiral reactant reacts with an achiral reducing agent, sodium borohydride, to generate an equimolar mixture of the chiral enantiomers of the product. For example, an...

Unlike ethane and propane that have only two major conformations, butane has more than two conformers. The staggered form of butane in which the bulky methyl groups on the two carbons are placed on opposite sides, that is, at a dihedral angle of 180°, is the lowest energy, most stable form — called the anti conformer. This conformation is stabilized due to the absence of steric repulsion between the largely spaced out methyl groups. The other two staggered conformations are degenerate and have...

In organic synthesis, the formation of products can be altered by changing the reaction conditions. For example, a dibromo addition product is formed when propene is treated with bromine at room temperature. In contrast, propene undergoes allylic substitution in non-polar solvents at high temperatures to give 3-bromopropene. In order to avoid the addition reaction, the bromine concentration must be kept as low as possible throughout the reaction. This can be achieved using N-bromosuccinimide...