Light-Driven Reductive Cleavage of Sulfonamides Promoted by Thiourea Organophotosensitizers

We have developed a practical method
to perform the reductive photocleavage
of sulfonamides using thioureas as organophotocatalysts. This transformation,
which tolerates a variety of substrates, occurs under mild reaction
conditions in the presence of tetrabutylammonium borohydride as a
reducing agent. Experimental and theoretical mechanistic investigations
complete the study, shedding light on the nature of the active species
involved in the photocatalytic process.