Reaction of singlet oxygen with some benzylic sulfides

Singlet oxygen: Properties, generation, detection, and environmental applications

Singlet oxygen (1O2) is molecular oxygen in the excited state with high energy and electrophilic properties. It is widely found in nature, and its important role is gradually extending from chemical syntheses and medical techniques to environmental remediation. However, there exist ambiguities and controversies regarding detection methods, generation pathways, and reaction mechanisms which have hindered the understanding and applications of 1O2. For example, the inaccurate detection of 1O2 has led to an overestimation of its role in pollutant degradation. The difficulty in detecting multiple intermediate species obscures the mechanism of 1O2 production. The applications of 1O2 in environmental remediation have also not been comprehensively commented on. To fill these knowledge gaps, this paper systematically discussed the properties and generation of 1O2, reviewed the state-of-the-art detection methods for 1O2 and long-standing controversies in the catalytic systems. Future opportunities and challenges were also discussed regarding the applications of 1O2 in the degradation of pollutants dissolved in water and volatilized in the atmosphere, the disinfection of drinking water, the gas/solid sterilization, and the self-cleaning of filter membranes. This review is expected to provide a better understanding of 1O2-based advanced oxidation processes and practical applications in the environmental protection of 1O2.

Aerobic Photocatalysis: Oxidation of Sulfides to Sulfoxides

Sulfoxides constitute one of the most important functional groups in organic chemistry found in numerous pharmaceuticals and natural products. Sulfoxides are usually obtained from the oxidation of the corresponding sulfides. Among various oxidants, oxygen or air are considered the greenest and most sustainable reagent. Photochemistry and photocatalysis is increasingly applied in new, as well as traditional, yet demanding, reaction, like the aerobic oxidation of sulfides to sulfoxides, since photocatalysis has provided the means to access them in mild and effective ways. In this review, we will summarize the photochemical protocols that have been developed for the oxidation of sulfides to sulfoxides, employing air or oxygen as the oxidant. The aim of this review is to present: i) a historical overview, ii) the key mechanistic studies and proposed mechanisms and iii) categorize the different catalytic systems in literature.

Visible-light-mediated oxidative C–S bond cleavage of benzyl thiols through in situ activation strategy

A novel method for the oxidative C–S bond cleavage of benzyl thiols was developed. In situ-activated silver species enabled the controlled bond cleavage of benzyl thiols to afford aldehydes and...

Electrochemical biosensor based on singlet oxygen generated by molecular photosensitizers

Here a sensing strategy with the integration of photosensitizer and electrochemical analysis was present. The photosensitizer, Zinc(II) tetraphenylporphyrin (ZnTCPP), was functionalized graphene oxide (GO) to form complex (ZnTCPP/GO) as the electrode material and generated singlet-oxygen (¹O₂) in the presence of air under light illumination. Due to the special electronic structure of ¹O₂, hydroquinone (HQ) could react with ¹O₂ to produce electrochemically-detectable products, benzoquinone (BQ). Meanwhile, the formed BQ could be reduced on the electrode, completing the redox cycling. The ZnTCPP/GO modified ITO electrode produces a stable and enhanced photocurrent signal under 420 nm irradiation in air-saturated buffer, compared with in N₂-saturated buffer. On the other hand, l-glutathione (GSH) as a signalling molecule plays important role in physiological process, which was employed as model to investigated the sensing performance. Coupling with HQ oxidized by ¹O₂, a GSH sensor was constructed on the basis the redox cycling of HQ. A sensitive reduction of photocurrent is observed with the addition of GSH, due to the GSH could be oxidized by the generated ¹O₂ to form GSSG. The biosensor displayed good performance in a broad concentration range of 0-150 μM, with a lower detection limit of 1.3 μM at an S/N ratio of 3, and could be used in practical application. This work affords a platform for constructing the biosensor with ¹O₂ instead of enzyme via on/off light switching.

Oxidative C-S Bond Cleavage of Benzyl Thiols Enabled by Visible-Light-Mediated Silver(II) Complexes

The oxidative cleavage reaction of the C-S bond using singlet oxygen is challenging because of its uncontrollable nature. We have developed a novel method for the singlet-oxygen-mediated selective C-S bond cleavage reaction using silver(II)-ligand complexes. Visible-light-induced silver catalysis enables the controlled oxidative cleavage of benzyl thiols to afford carbonyl compounds, such as aldehydes or ketones, which are important synthetic components.

Visible-light photocatalytic aerobic oxidation of sulfides to sulfoxides with a perylene diimide photocatalyst

Photosensitized oxygenation has been recognised as a modern method of incorporating oxygen into a substrate, as it offers environmentally benign alternatives to several conventional synthetic procedures. A metal-free aerobic selective sulfoxidation photosensitized by a perylene diimide photocatalyst has been developed. The reaction utilizes visible light as the driving force and molecular oxygen as the oxidant. The advantages of the developed method include high efficiency and selectivity, extremely simple operation and work-up procedure, mild reaction conditions, and practical application in late-stage functionalization.

Heterogeneously Catalyzed Aerobic Oxidation of Sulfides with a BaRuO3 Nanoperovskite

A rhombohedral BaRuO₃ nanoperovskite, which was synthesized by the sol-gel method using malic acid, could act as an efficient heterogeneous catalyst for the selective oxidation of various aromatic and aliphatic sulfides with molecular oxygen as the sole oxidant. BaRuO₃ showed much higher catalytic activities than other catalysts, including ruthenium-based perovskite oxides, under mild reaction conditions. The catalyst could be recovered by simple filtration and reused several times without obvious loss of its high catalytic performance. The catalyst effect, ¹⁸O-labeling experiments, and kinetic and mechanistic studies showed that substrate oxidation proceeds with oxygen species caused by the solid. The crystal structure of ruthenium-based oxides is crucial to control the nature of the oxygen atoms and significantly affects their oxygen transfer reactivity. Density functional theory calculations revealed that the face-sharing octahedra in BaRuO₃ likely are possible active sites in the present oxidation in sharp contrast to the corner-sharing octahedra in SrRuO₃, CaRuO₃, and RuO₂. The superior oxygen transfer ability of BaRuO₃ is also applicable to the quantitative conversion of dibenzothiophene into the corresponding sulfone and gram-scale oxidation of 4-methoxy thioanisole, in which 1.20 g (71% yield) of the analytically pure sulfoxide could be isolated.

Robust Cooperative Photo-oxidation of Sulfides without Sacrificial Reagent under Air Using a Dinuclear RuII -CuII Assembly

A molecular chromophore-catalyst assembly containing a chromophore ruthenium(II) center (RuIIchro ) and a catalytic copper(II) center (CuIIcat ) has been prepared easily. The assembly was employed for photocatalytic oxidation of sulfides without sacrificial reagent in the presence of dioxygen under blue light irradiation. Unprecedented turnover number (TON) up to 32 000 was achieved. It was elucidated that an electron transferred from excited state of chromophore RuII*chro to CuIIcat along with generation of CuIcat that was further activated by O₂ . These results demonstrate a promising strategy for efficient cooperative photocatalytic reactions under air using the chromophore-catalyst assembly.

Tocochromanols, plastoquinol, and other biological prenyllipids as singlet oxygen quenchers-determination of singlet oxygen quenching rate constants and oxidation products

Singlet oxygen quenching rate constants for tocopherol and tocotrienol homologues have been determined in organic solvents of different polarities, as well as for other biological prenyllipids such as plastoquinol, ubiquinol, and alpha-tocopherolquinol. The obtained results showed that the quenching activity of tocochromanols was mainly due to the chromanol ring of the molecule and the activity increased with the number of the methyl groups in the ring and solvent polarity. Among prenylquinols, alpha-tocopherolquinol was the most active scavenger of singlet oxygen followed by ubiquinol and plastoquinol. The oxidation products of tocopherols were identified as 8a-hydroperoxy-tocopherones which are converted to the corresponding tocopherolquinones under acidic conditions. The primary oxidation products of prenylquinols, containing unsaturated side chains, were the corresponding prenylquinones that were further oxidized to hydroxyl side-chain derivatives. In the case of plastochromanol, the gamma-tocotrienol homologue found in some seed oils, mainly the hydroxyl derivatives were formed, although 8a-hydroperoxy-gamma-tocopherones were also formed to a minor extent, both from plastochromanol and from its hydroxyl, side-chain derivatives. The obtained results were discussed in terms of the activity of different prenyllipids as singlet oxygen scavengers in vivo.

Plastoquinol as a singlet oxygen scavenger in photosystem II

It has been found that in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii cells, under high-light stress, the level of reduced plastoquinone considerably increases while in the presence of pyrazolate, an inhibitor of plastoquinone and tocopherol biosynthesis, the content of reduced plastoquinone quickly decreases, similarly to alpha-tocopherol. In relation to chlorophyll, after 18 h of growth under low light with the inhibitor, the content of alpha-tocopherol was 22.2 mol/1000 mol chlorophyll and that of total plastoquinone (oxidized and reduced) was 19 mol/1000 mol chlorophyll, while after 2 h of high-light stress the corresponding amounts dropped to 6.4 and 6.2 mol/1000 mol chlorophyll for alpha-tocopherol and total plastoquinone, respectively. The degradation of both prenyllipids was partially reversed by diphenylamine, a singlet oxygen scavenger. It was concluded that plastoquinol, as well as alpha-tocopherol is decomposed under high-light stress as a result of a scavenging reaction of singlet oxygen generated in photosystem II. The levels of both alpha-tocopherol and of the reduced plastoquinone are not affected significantly in the absence of the inhibitor due to a high turnover rate of both prenyllipids, i.e., their degradation is compensated by fast biosynthesis. The calculated turnover rates under high-light conditions were twofold higher for total plastoquinone (0.23 nmol/h/ml of cell culture) than for alpha-tocopherol (0.11 nmol/h/ml). We have also found that the level of alpha-tocopherolquinone, an oxidation product of alpha-tocopherol, increases as the alpha-tocopherol is consumed. The same correlation was also observed for gamma-tocopherol and its quinone form. Moreover, in the presence of pyrazolate under low-light growth conditions, the synthesis of plastoquinone-C, a hydroxylated plastoquinone derivative, was stimulated in contrast to plastoquinone, indicating for the first time a functional role for plastoquinone-C. The presented data also suggest that the two plastoquinones may have different biosynthetic pathways in C. reinhardtii.