Tags: Chemical Compound, Chemical Substance.
A dithiolane is a sulfur heterocycle derived from cyclopentane by replacing two methylene bridges (-CH2- units) with thioether groups. The parent compounds are 12-dithiolane and 13-dithiolane.12-Dithiolanes such as lipoic acid are cyclic disulfides.13-Dithiolanes are important as protecting groups for carbonyl compounds since they are inert to a wide range of conditions. Reacting a carbonyl group with 12-ethanedithiol converts it to a 13-dithiolane as detailed below.
