Competition Between C -S and C -C Bond Cleavage in β-Hydroxysulfoxides Cation Radicals Generated by Photoinduced Electron Transfer.

A kinetic and product study of the 3-cyano-N-methyl-quinolinium photoinduced monoelectronic oxidation of a series of β-hydroxysulfoxides has been carried out to investigate the competition between C -S and C -C bond cleavage within the corresponding cation radicals. Laser flash photolysis experiments unequivocally established the formation of sulfoxide cation radicals showing their absorption band (λ ≈ 520 nm) and that of 3-CN-NMQ (λ ≈ 390 nm). Steady-state photolysis experiments suggest that, in contrast to what previously observed for alkyl phenyl sulfoxide cation radicals that exclusively undergo C -S bond cleavage, the presence of a β-hydroxy group makes, in some cases, the C -C scission competitive. The factors governing this competition seem to depend on the relative stability of the fragments formed from the two bond scissions. Substitution of the β-OH group with -OMe did not dramatically change the reactivity pattern of the cation radicals thus suggesting that the observed favorable effect of the hydroxy group on the C -C bond cleavage mainly resides on its capability to stabilize the carbocation formed upon this scission.