Pulsed laser excitation studies on the reactive species in 9-cyanoanthracene(CNA)-sensitized oxygenation of 1,1-diphenyl-2-methylpropene (1a) and (E)-2,3-diphenyl-2-butene (1b) show that the reaction course is mostly governed by competitive quenching of the CNA excited singlet by 1 and oxygen to produce 1+. and 1O2, respectively. The results indicate that the reaction courses of tetraphenylethylene and 2,3-dimethyl-2-butene, for example, can be explained by exclusive quenching of sensitizer singlets by the olefin and oxygen, respectively.