Photosensitized oxidation of sulfides: Discriminating between singlet oxygen mechanism and electron transfer involving superoxide anion or molecular oxygen

BONESI SERGIO M; MANET ILSE; FRECCERO MAURO; FAGNONI MAURIZIO; ALBINI ANGELO

CHEMISTRY-A EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Wiley-VCH Verlag

Lugar: Weinheim; Año: 2006 p. 4844 - 4857

0947-6539

Abstract: The oxidation of diethyl and diphenyl sulfide photosensitized by dicyanoanthracene(DCA), N-methylquinolinium tetrafluoroborate (NMQ+), and triphenylpyrylium tetrafluoroborate(TPP+) has been explored by steady-state and laser flash photolysis studies in acetonitrile, methanol, and 1,2-dichloroethane. In the Et2S/DCA system sulfide-enhanced intersystem crossing leads to generation of 1O2, which eventually gives the sulfoxide via a persulfoxide; this mechanism plays no role with Ph2S, though enhanced formation of 3DCA has been demonstrated.In all other cases an electrontransfer (ET) mechanism is involved. Electron-transfer sulfoxidation occurs with efficiency essentially independent of the sulfide structure, is subject to quenching by benzoquinone, and does not lead to Ph2SO cooxidation. Formation of the radical cations R2SC+ has been assessed by flash photolysis (medium-dependent yield, dichloroethane@CH3CN>CH3OH) and confirmed by quenching with 1,4-dimethoxybenzene.Electron-transfer oxidations occur both when the superoxide anion is generated by the reduced sensitizer (DCAC, NMQC) and when this is not the case (TPPC). Although it is possible that different mechanisms operate with different ET sensitizers, a plausible unitary mechanism can beproposed. This considers that reaction between R2SC+ and O2C mainly involves backelectron transfer, whereas sulfoxidation results primarily from the reaction of the sulfide radical cation with molecular oxygen. Calculations indeed show that the initially formed fleeting complex RS2 +···OOC adds to a sulfide molecule and gives strongly stabilized R2SOC+OSR2 via an accessible transition state. This intermediate gives the sulfoxide, probably via a radicalcation chain path. This mechanism explains the larger scope of ET sulfoxidation with respect to the singletoxygen process.