Proof of Structure of Some Controversial Sulfonyl Chlorides

A comprehensive investigation of reaction mechanisms of sulfonyl compounds was initiated in this Laboratory in 1949. At that time an insight into these reaction mechanisms was sought by determining the steric requirements of several branched chain sulfonyl chlorides so that they could be compared with analogously branched primary alkyl halides in order to test the assumption that the sulfonyl group acts as a pseudo-methylene group. IN the course of the investigation the study has been broadened to include other types of sulfonyl compounds; namely, polyfunctional sulfonyl chlorides, sulfonic acid esters, and sultones.