C-H Activation through Photocatalytic Sulfoxidation of Alkanes Der Naturwissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg zur Erlangung des Doktorgrades vorgelegt von Francesco Parrino aus Palermo (Italien) Als Dissertation genehmigt von der Naturwissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg Tag der mündlichen Prüfung: 27. 03. 2009 Vorsitzender der Promotionskommission: Prof. Dr. Eberhard Bänsch Erstberichterstatter: Prof. Dr. Horst Kisch Zweitberichterstatter: Prof. Dr. Ulrich Zenneck Acknowledgements I wish to thank Prof. Dr. Horst Kisch for the supervision of this work and many fruitful discussions. I am particularly grateful for his advice, his trust in me, and his generous support of my work. Parts of this work would not have been possible without the help of several people. I thank Christina Wronna for elemental analyses, Cornelia Damm for time resolved photovoltage measurements, Siegfried Smolny for surface area measurements, Helga Hildebrand for XPS measurements, and Martin Bachmueller for MS analysis. Manfred Weller, Peter Igel and their colleagues from the “Werkstatt” are acknowledged for the assistance with technical problems. I am also indebted to Dr. Matthias Moll for his manifold help, Uwe Reißer for his help with electronic equipment, Ronny Wiefel for glass work, and to Dr.