Mechanism of β-cleavage in the excited states of keto sulfides
Abstract
The β-cleavage process in photoexcited ketones of structure RCOCH2X (X = CH2CH3, OCH3, SCH3, R = CH3, Ph) has been studied using the configuration interaction procedure within the framework of MINDO/3. The results explain qualitatively why the β-cleavage process is faster than the α-cleavage process in keto sulfides while in keto ethers the reverse is true.