Photoinversion of sulfoxides as a source of diversity in dynamic combinatorial chemistry.

Photochemical interconversion of the two diastereoisomers cis- and trans-thianthrene dioxide (1) can be considered an example of photodynamic combinatorial chemistry (PDCC) in which the interconversion among diastereomeric equilibrating species is brought about by electromagnetic irradiation. Photoequilibrium can be shifted by irradiation at different wavelengths or by addition of SnCl(2) that binds cis-1 more efficiently than trans-1.