Photodeoxygenation of phenanthro[4,5-bcd]thiophene S-oxide, triphenyleno[1,12-bcd]thiophene S-oxide and perylo[1,12-bcd]thiophene S-oxide

Sulfoxides, upon irradiation with ultraviolet (UV) light undergo α-cleavage, hydrogen abstraction, photodeoxygenation, bimolecular photoreduction, and stereo-mutation. The UV irradiation of dibenzothiophene S-oxide (DBTO) yields dibenzothiophene (DBT) as a major product along with ground-state atomic oxygen [O(³P)]. This is a common method for generating O(³P) in solution. The low quantum yield of photodeoxygenation and the requirement of UVA light are drawbacks of using this method. The sulfoxides benzo[b]naphtho-[1,2,d]thiophene S-oxide, benzo[b]naphtho [2,1,d]thiophene S-oxide, benzo[b] phenanthro[9,10-d]thiophene S-oxide, dinaphtho- [2,1-b:1’,2’-d]thiophene S-oxide, and dinaphtho[1,2-b:2’,1’-d]thiophene S-oxide have shown to deoxygenate up to three times faster than DBTO upon UVA irradiation; however, the photodeoxygenation of these sulfoxides does not appear to be limited to the production of O(³P). In this work, phenanthro[4,5-bcd]thiophene S-oxide, triphenyleno[1,12-bcd]thiophene-S-oxide, and perylo[1,12-bcd]thiophene-S-oxide were synthesized and their photodeoxygenation was studied. Phenanthro[4,5-bcd]thiophene-S-oxide, triphenyleno[1,12-bcd]thiophene-S-oxide, and perylo[1,12-bcd]thiophene-S-oxide deoxygenated upon UVA irradiation. However, the common intermediate experiments did not conclusively identify the photodeoxygenation mechanism of these sulfoxides.