Presentation description

Disulfide bonds are abundant in many biological compounds, including natural products, drugs, and enzymes; however, these bonds are susceptible to enzymatic reduction. The bond strength between sulfur and carbon is significantly stronger than a disulfide bond; therefore, the conversion of disulfides to thioethers in biological molecules can increase the structural stability and longevity of these products. This work explores a new method for reducing disulfide bonds to thioethers using electrochemistry. This electrochemical approach allowed for the exclusion of the stoichiometric oxidant that is typically required to exact this transformation, which reduced the amount of waste produced. Future work is required to optimize the reaction and expand the substrate scope.