Microwave-assisted Formation of Organic Disulfides of Biochemical Significance

Organic compounds possessing the -S-S- bond, often called disulfide or disulfane, are extremely important and useful in various fields. They often exhibit unique and diverse chemistry in synthetic, biochemical, pharmacological areas as well as are vastly used as vulcanizing agents for rubbers and elastomers. In peptide and protein chemistry, the disulfide bridges impart stability in folding and their synthesis is a pivotal transformation in modern medicinal chemistry research. On the other hand, microwave (MW) provides heat energy source, an alternative to conventional heating, and is used for diverse chemical reactions. This review has presented the progress towards the synthesis of small organic disulfanes and acyclic/cyclic peptides bearing the -S-S- bond specifically under microwave irradiation, which often facilitated the formation of disulfides over conventional heating both in terms of reaction time and efficiency.