Martin's sulfurane


Martin's sulfurane is the organosulfur compound with the formula Ph2S2. It is a white solid that easily undergoes sublimation. The compound is an example of a hypervalent sulfur compound called a sulfurane. As such, the sulfur adopts a see-saw structure, with a lone pair of electrons as the equatorial fifth coordinate of a trigonal bipyramid, like that of sulfur tetrafluoride. The compound is a reagent in organic synthesis. One application is for the dehydration of a secondary alcohol to give an alkene: