Aerobic oxidation of thiols to disulfides by heterogeneous gold catalysts

Thiols are smoothly and efficiently oxidized to disulfides (RSSR) with air in the presence of gold nanoparticles supported on CeO2 in absence of solvent, as well as in aqueous solutions and neutral pH. It is shown that the reaction can occur through the coupling of two sulphur radicals on the metal surface. The sulphur radicals are formed from thiols by one-electron oxidation with the metal. This reaction mechanism strongly resembles that found for sulfhydryl oxidases, a class of enzymes which are involved in the oxidative protein folding through de novo formation of disulfides from thiols.lFinancial support by Consolider-Ingenio 2010 (project MULTICAT), Spanish MICINN (Projects MAT2006-14274-C02-01 and MAT2011-28009), Generalitat Valenciana (Project PROMETEO/2008/130) and Fundacion Areces are gratefully acknowledged. T.R. expresses her gratitude to Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas for an I3-P fellowship.Corma Canós, A.; Ródenas Torralba, T.; Sabater Picot, MJ. (2012). Aerobic oxidation of thiols to disulfides by heterogeneous gold catalysts. Chemical Science. 3(2):398-404. doi:10.1039/c1sc00466bS3984043