Photocatalytic Dehalogenation of Vicinal Dibromo Compounds Utilizing Sexithiophene and Visible-Light Irradiation

The reductive dehalogenation of a variety of vicinal-dibromide compounds has been accomplished through the use of a-sexithiophene as an organophotocatalyst. This photocatalytic system brings about the desired transformations in good yields, using low catalyst loadings and short reaction times. To help shed light on the efficiency of this process, we have studied the kinetics of the key mechanistic steps utilizing a combination of steady-state/time-resolved fluorescence and laser flash photolysis techniques.