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S-Nitrosothiol (RS-NO) formation in proteins and peptides have been implicated as factors in the etiology of many diseases and as possible regulators of thiol protein function. They have also been proposed as possible storage forms of nitric oxide (NO). However, despite their proposed functions/roles, there appears to be little consensus regarding the physiological mechanisms of RS-NO formation and degradation. Hydropersulfides (RSSH) have recently been discovered as endogenously generated species with unique reactivity. One important reaction of RSSH is with RS-NO, which leads to the degradation of RS-NO as well as the release of NO. Thus, it can be speculated that RSSH can be a factor in the regulation of steady-state RS-NO levels, and therefore may be important in RS-NO (patho)physiology. Moreover, RSSH-mediated NO release from RS-NO may be a possible mechanism allowing RS-NO to serve as a storage form of NO. 

The RSSH + H 2 S → RSH + HSSH reaction has been suggested by numerous labs to be important in H 2 S-mediated biological processes. Seven different mechanisms for this reaction (R = CH 3 , as a model) have been studied using the DFT methods (M06-2X and ωB97X-D) with the Dunning aug-cc-pV(T+d)Z basis sets. The reaction of CH 3 SSH with gas phase H 2 S has a very high energy barrier (>45 kcal mol −1 ), consistent with the available experimental observations. A series of substitution reactions R 1 –S–S–H + − S–R 2 (R 1 = Me, t Bu, Ad, R 2 = H, S–Me, S– t Bu, S–Ad) have been studied. The regioselectivity is largely affected by the steric bulkiness of R 1 , but is much less sensitive to R 2 . Thus, when R 1 is Me, all − S–R 2 favorably attack the internal S atom, leading to R 1 –S–S–R 2 . While for R 1 = t Bu, Ad, all − S–R 2 significantly prefer to attack the external S atom to form − S–S–R 2 . These results are in good agreement with the experimental observations.