The gas-phase pyrolysis of some primary and secondary thionacetates
Abstract
Alkyl thionacetates undergo thermal elimination by a homogeneous unimolecular mechanism to give alkenes and thioacetic acid as first products. With the primary esters there is an accompanying rearrangement to thiolacetate. A transition state similar to that for acetate pyrolysis is proposed for the elimination reaction, but it is argued that it is more product-like in the thionester case.