Strategies for the Design of Donors and Precursors of Reactive Sulfur Species

: Reactive sulfur species (RSS) play regulatory roles in biological systems. Many RSS are highly reactive and transient molecules, making their study difficult. RSS donors or precursors, which are used to specifically produce or deliver RSS, are useful research tools, as well as possible therapeutic agents. In this Minireview, we summarized the chemical strategies that have been used in the design of donors/precursors of hydrogen sulfide relevant RSS (including hydrogen sulfide, hydrogen polysulfides, persulfides, and S-nitroso-hydrogen sulfide). The potential problems of applying these strategies in biological settings are also discussed.