Photochemistry of thiophene‐S‐oxide derivatives

Photolysis of substituted thiophene‐S‐oxides in solution results in the formation of either the corresponding thiophene or furan, in addition to uncharacterized materials. No good rationalization is available for the choice of which pathway may predominate, but it is demonstrated that the photolysis of 2,5‐bistrimethylsilylthiopene‐ S‐oxide produces O(³P) in the same manner as the well‐established photolysis of dibenzothiophene‐S‐oxide. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.