2-Hydroxyethanesulfonyl chloride (1 a) is readily made by reaction of an aqueous solution of 2-mercaptoethanol (4 a) with chlorine. This is the first clearly proved preparation of a compound which is both an alcohol and a sulfonyl chloride. Reactions of 1 a with water and alcohols evidently proceed largely by intramolecular cyclization to the transient β-sultone (2 a), which then undergoes nuclcophilic ring opening to form the products. In the presence ...
