Benzophenone-3 utilizes an excited state intramolecular proton transfer from a hydroxyl group to dissipate light energy. It was supposed to dissipate the absorbed light energy in a harmless manner, indeed benzophenone-3 converts the absorbed photon energy into heat without chemical damage (Schnabel and Kiwi, 1978). Benzophenone-3 has strong absorption in 280–340 nm (UV-B) range.
The photochemical behavior of ethylhexyl-p-methoxycinnamate represents the most widely used sunscreen compound (Hayden et al., 1998). The photo-induced degradation of ethylhexyl-p-methoxycinnamate in emulsion formulations has been demonstrated by many researchers (De Flandre and Lang, 1988).