Identification of the photolysis products of nitrofurazone irradiated with laboratory illumination

Illumination of aqueous or organic solutions of nitrofurazone, 1, with fluorescent or tungsten light caused the appearance of two new compounds, 2 and 3. Compound 2, which eluted just before nitrofurazone on a reverse phase hplc column, had a mass spectrum identical to that of 1 and converted back to 1 at a rate proportional to the temperature and the polarity of the solvent when allowed to sit in the dark. High resolution proton nmr …