By methods of photochemistry and luminescence analysis it has been shown that 4-methyl-1-sulfoanthracene eliminates the sulfogroup with a yield of α-methylanthracene of ~70% when it is irradiated in a medium of 47–65% perchloric acid by the light of a mercury-ball arc lamp DRSH-1000. The process is single-photon and proceeds with the participation of the S singlet level, which is deactivated faster than the elimination of the sulfogroup. The hydrolysis of the sulfogroup is realized under conditions of specific acid catalysis, and at high acidity of the medium ( –2) the reaction proceeds without affecting the meso-position of the anthracene nucleus. Quantum yields of dissociated and undissociated forms of 4-methyl-1-sulfoanthracene, activation energies of photodesulfation and luminescence quenching, lifetime of the excited state of the molecule and constants of kinetic equations were determined.
A.V. de Vekki (Wed,) studied this question.