The Organic Synthesis Program supports the work of Prof. Mark Welker. Welker, of Wake Forest University, is involved in the preparation and chemical behavior of unique complexes that contain trapped disulfur monoxide. These complexes are made up of carbon-containing compounds attached to metals. Although interesting in their own right, these novel complexes can be used to develop synthetic strategies for preparing a host of important sulfur-containing materials. Many important bioactive compounds contain sulfur as part of their structure and have been interesting challenges to laboratory preparation. Standard and general methods are not available to address the synthesis problems, and Welker's program is addressing this need. The goals of this project are to 1) trap and stabilize disulfur monoxide with transition metal complexes; and 2) make use of these complexes in efficient syntheses of organosulfur compounds. The approaches to be developed are general and should find wide application. This is important since a number of pharmacologically significant sulfur-containing compounds might be addressed by the new protocols. In its own right, the preparation, characterization and study of basic coordination chemistry of disulfur monoxide will provide a range of fundamental knowledge.
