Disproportionation reaction of disulfides promoted by nitric oxide (NO) in the presence of oxygen

Two disulfides brought about disproportionation reaction to afford an unsymmetrical disulfide in 50% yield with a catalytic amount of nitric oxide in the presence of oxygen. The reaction proceeded faster when alkyl disulfides were employed for the reaction, and the substituent effects suggested that the reaction commenced with an oxidative process.