Reactions of methyl viologen and nitrite with thiourea dioxide. New opportunities for an old reductant

Thiourea dioxide was used as a precursor for sulfoxylate, SO22−, which is shown to reduce the methyl viologen dication to the fully reduced form, this is the first example of a direct study of the reduction with sulfoxylate; an important advantage of sulfoxylate and its parent compound thiourea dioxide, is their ability to reduce nitrite (the final product being nitrogen) and nitrous oxide in alkaline solutions in the absence of a catalyst.