Kinetics and mechanism of sensitized photooxidation of tetramethylammonium salt of 2-(phenylthio)acetic acid in solution: Steady-state and flash photolysis studies

The mechanism for the photo-induced oxidation of the tetramethylammonium salt of 2-(phenylthio)acetic acid was elucidated. The photosensitizer was the benzophenone triplet in acetonitrile solutions. Time-resolved absorption spectra and kinetics were used to follow the intermediates which included the triplet of benzophenone, the ketyl radical of benzophenone, and an ion pair consisting of a radical anion of benzophenone and a tetramethylammonium cation. Rate constants for the growth and decay of the transients were determined along with the quantum yields of the transients. The intermediacy of other radicals was inferred by the products observed following steady-state photolysis. Quantum yields were also determined for photoproducts resulting from the steady-state irradiation. The mechanism was proposed that rationalized the quantitative observations. Of particular note was how the nature of the counter ion effected the secondary reactions of the radicals and the radical ions.