Synthesis of 5-(ω-sulfhydrylalkyl)salicylaldehydes as precursors for the preparation of alkanethiol-modified metal salens

Using multistep syntheses, we obtained two alkanethiol-modified salicylaldehydes, namely 5-(2-sulfhydrylethyl)salicylaldehyde and 5-(6-sulfhydrylhexyl)salicylaldehyde. These compounds are precursors for the preparation of alkanethiol-substituted metal salens, which can potentially be used to form surface-modified gold electrodes.