Continuing an exploration of the mechanism of this reaction, an alternative new mechanism was suggested in 1989 (having been first submitted to the journal ten years earlier!).[cite]10.1002/jhet.5570260518[/cite] Here the key intermediate proposed is a thiirenium cation (labelled 8 in the article) and labelled Int3 below.
AbstractThe mechanisms involved in various stages of the Kindler Reaction are discussed, with particular attention especially to its most unusual feature: the movement of a carbonyl group from methylene carbon to methylene carbon in an unbranched alkyl chain, or around a cycloalkyl ring. The first step is the reversible formation of an enamine, which is attacked by a catalyst generated from sulfur and the amine solvent to form a highly reactive intermediate with a sulfur‐containing heterocyclic ring. The natures of the catalytically active species and the reactive intermediates are proposed. Other steps involved in the Kindler Reaction are also discussed, as is the relationship of the Willgerodt Reaction to the Kindler Reaction.