Control of Chemical Selectivity by Specific Weak Interactions between Groups in Reacting Molecules

In oxidation of a pair of associating thiols, each having a phenyl or a given group (R), it has been found that the order of the selectivity agrees with that of the strength of specific R–Ph interactions for each of two sets of R [(i) p-MeC6H4 < Ph < p-MeOC6H4 and (ii) n-C5H11 < Ph < p-MeCOC6H4].