A series of N-benzylbenzenesulfonamides were synthesized and their biological activities were tested. Among these compounds, N-(2,3-epoxypropyl)-N-(α-methylbenzyl)benzenesulfonamide derivatives were found to be the most active against barnyardgrass and to have physiological selectivity between barnyardgrass and rice plants.
Represented herein is a simple thiol identified as an effective precursor to photochemically form a carbocation. Thanks to the thiyl radical rapid transformation to disulfide, which serves not only to stabilize the generated thiyl radical but also to allow the second electron transfer to form a carbocation. The resulting carbocations, including primary benzylic, secondary, and tertiary carbocations