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Updated: May 16, 2026

09:57
A Facile and Efficient Approach for the Production of Reversible Disulfide Cross-linked Micelles
Published on: December 23, 2016
Tuning LCST with thiol-responsiveness of thermoresponsive copolymers containing pendant disulfides
Kaiwan Rahimian-Bajgiran1, Nicky Chan, Qian Zhang
1Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Abstract:
A new approach that centers on modulating the hydrophobic-hydrophilic balance by conversion of pendant disulfides to thiols and further to sulfides enables facile tuning of the thermoresponsive properties of thiol-responsive copolymers.
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Preparation and Reactions of Thiols
Thiols are prepared using the hydrosulfide anion as a nucleophile in a nucleophilic substitution reaction with alkyl halides. For instance, bromobutane reacts with sodium hydrosulfide to give butanethiol.
Preparation and Reactions of Sulfides
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.
Structure and Nomenclature of Thiols and Sulfides
Thiols and sulfides are sulfur analogs of alcohols and ethers, respectively, where the sulfur atom takes the place of the oxygen atom. Thus, thiols are generally represented as RSH, where R is an alkyl substituent and —SH is the functional group. On the other hand, in sulfides, the central sulfur atom is bonded to two hydrocarbon groups on either side. Depending upon the type of group, sulfides can be either symmetrical or asymmetrical. Both thiols and sulfides display a bent geometry, similar...

