Syntheses of 2-purin-6-ylaminoethanethiol (11), 2-purin-8-ylaminoethanethiol (VI), and 2-(2- pyrimidinylamino) ethanethiol (VII) were achieved by the surprisingly facile catalytic hydrogenolysis of the corresponding disulfides in basic media. An NS migration of the purin- 6-yl group under acidic conditions and a novel formation of 7, 8-dihydrothiaxolo [2, 3-i] purine (V) were encountered during development of the hydrogenolysis procedure for 11. ...