Photochemical cleavage reactions of 8-quinolinyl benzenesulfonate derivatives and related sulfonates in aqueoussolutions are reported. The 8-quinolinyl benzenesulfonates undergo photolysis upon photoirradiation at 300-330 nm to give the corresponding 8-quinolinols and benzenesulfonic acids with the production of only negligible amounts of byproducts. The effects of substituent groups of the 8-quinolinyl