A Direct Observation of a Concerted Two-Bond Breaking Reaction.

The article presents an affirmative observation of concerted breaking of two chemical bonds in the photodissociation of dimethyl sulphoxide (DMSO). According to the authors, DMSO decomposes into SO + 2CH3 with a quantum yield of ∼1.5 for the methyl products upon excitation near 200 nm. The authors add that the two C-S bonds are linked together with an alkyl chain, and the dissociation of a single C-S bond is hindered by the chain constraint and becomes less repulsive.