Convenient synthesis of 1,3-dithiolane-2-thiones: cyclic trithiocarbonates as conformational locks

A series of novel 1,3-dithiolane-2-thiones, or cyclic trithiocarbonates, has been prepared by a new simple procedure: a treatment of the corresponding epoxides with the commercially available potassium ethyl xanthogenate, KSC(S)OEt. The stereochemistry of the products was determined by 1 H NMR and in some cases by single-crystal X-ray data. Cyclohexane-based 1,3- dithiolane-2-thiones revealed a trans-fusion of the carbo- and hetero-cycles. The products obtained from the mono-substituted cyclohexene oxides demonstrated an axial position of the substituents. Thus the epoxide transformation into trithiocarbonate can be used as a method for locking cyclic compounds in unstable conformations