Light-Driven Reductive Cleavage of Sulfonamides Promoted by Thiourea Organophotosensitizers

J Org Chem. 2023 May 5;88(9):5923-5935. doi: 10.1021/acs.joc.3c00296. Epub 2023 Apr 6.

Abstract

We have developed a practical method to perform the reductive photocleavage of sulfonamides using thioureas as organophotocatalysts. This transformation, which tolerates a variety of substrates, occurs under mild reaction conditions in the presence of tetrabutylammonium borohydride as a reducing agent. Experimental and theoretical mechanistic investigations complete the study, shedding light on the nature of the active species involved in the photocatalytic process.