Photochemistry of Styrene Oxide: A Triplet Pathway in the Singlet Excitation of a Monoaryl Oxirane

Direct photolysis and quenching experiments with styrene oxide support the existence of an efficient triplet photochemical pathway to benzyl radical formation. Similar photolytic behavior for styrene glycol carbonate strongly supports the 1,3-diradical, resulting from the scission of the benzylic C-O bond, as the geometric source of the triplet pathway. Primary photoproducts were determined by both NMR and HPLC analysis and we observed that toluene and bibenzyl were both primary photoproducts, not secondary photoproducts.