An experimental and computational study of the reactions of singlet oxygen with N-substituted sulfenamides is reported. Intermediates capable of epoxidizing norbornene were observed during the photooxidations of three sulfenamides. These results are used to argue for formation of iminopersulfinic acids. The structural integrity of two iminopersulfinic acids was supported by their successful location at the MP2/6-31G* level of theory. Furthermore, the inability to locate computationally significant persulfinimide precursors suggests that the iminopersulfinic acids form by enelike reactions involving near-simultaneous addition of singlet oxygen to sulfur and hydrogen abstraction.
