Triphenylsulfonium Salt Photochemistry. New Evidence for Triplet Excited State Reactions

Direct and sensitized photolysis of triphenylsulfonium salts can generate the triplet state which yields diphenyl sulfide as the major photoproduct. Triplet sensitization is observed in the presence of ketones with ET > 74 kcal/mol, and the efficiency of sensitization correlates qualitatively with increasing ofET the sensitizer. In contrast, the singlet excited state yields mainly (phenylthio) biphenyls in addition to diphenyl sulfide. © 1988, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.