“…Spectrophotometric titrations, performed earlier, indicate substantially different interconversion products, given the original structural similarity of all four disulfides. − We believe this effect is specifically due to the presence of Pd 2+ metal ion, which mediates different RSSR/RSH interconversion mechanisms for different disulfides. Indeed, both l -cystine and cystamine form stable S,N′-binuclear and S,S′,N,N′-tetranuclear complexes without cleavage of the disulfide bond. , In opposite, in the interconversion of dl -homocystine and 3,3′-dithiodipropionic acid, which are homologues of l -cystine, the S–S bond undergoes disproportionation under the same conditions. We show that the cleavage of the disulfide bond upon the interaction of a disulfide with a Pd(II) is as follows: Reaction proceeds through the formation of an S,S′-binuclear disulfide complex, which undergoes hydrolysis to form a thiolate and sulfinic acid complexes .…”