Biological Thiols and Carbon Disulfide: The Formation and Decay of Trithiocarbonates under Physiologically Relevant Conditions.

Carbon disulfide is an environmental toxin, but there are suggestions in the literature that it may also have regulatory and/or therapeutic roles in mammalian physiology. Thiols or thiolates would be likely biological targets for an electrophile, such as CS, and in this context, the present study examines the dynamics of CS reactions with various thiols (RSH) in physiologically relevant near-neutral aqueous media to form the respective trithiocarbonate anions (TTC, also known as "thioxanthate anions"). The rates of TTC formation are markedly pH-dependent, indicating that the reactive form of RSH is the conjugate base RS.

Uncaging carbon disulfide. Delivery platforms for potential pharmacological applications: a mechanistic approach.

We describe the kinetics of the formation and decay of a series of dithiocarbamates under physiological conditions. The goal is to provide a toolbox of compounds that release CS by well-defined kinetics in such media. Carbon disulfide is a known environmental toxin, but there is fragmentary evidence suggesting that CS may have bioregulatory and/or therapeutic roles in mammalian biology.