Proline-based Phosphoramidite Reagents for the Reductive Ligation of S-Nitrosothiols

S-Nitrosothiols have many biological implications but are rarely used in organic synthesis. In this work we report the development of proline-based phosphoramidite substrates that can effectively convert S-nitrosothiols to proline-based sulfenamides through a reductive ligation process. A unique property of this method is that the phosphine oxide moiety on the ligation products can be readily removed under acidic conditions. In conjugation with the facile preparation of S-nitrosothiols (RSNO) from the corresponding thiols (RSH), this method provides a new way to prepare proline-based sulfenamides from simple thiol starting materials.