The Reaction of Sulfur and Sulfur Compounds with Olefinic Substances. Part IX. The Reaction of Sulfur with 2,6-Dimethylocta-2,6-Diene
Abstract Farmer and Shipley showed that reaction of sulfur with 2,6-dimethylocta-2,6-diene (I) at 140° yields a cyclic monosulfide and a crosslinked polysulfide. No detailed investigation of the structures of these cyclic monosulfide or polysulfide products was undertaken, but it was deduced that the former contained 6-ethyl-2,2,6-trimethylthiaeyclohex-3-ene (VIII) and a compound having vinylidene unsaturation, CH2:CRR′, as apparently revealed by the infrared spectrum, and this has formed part of the evidence on which broad mechanistic conclusions have been based. This reaction has now been re-examined in greater detail; the compositions of the cyclic sulfide and crosslinked polysulfide fractions and their variation with time of reaction have been determined. Results and conclusions differing in important respects from those advanced by the earlier workers have been reached, as reported preliminarily elsewhere.