Aromatic rearrangements acyl migration

In the monocyclic series, the 2,4-cyclohexadienones rearrange to photoproducts of potential synthetic value. However, for efficient 1,2-acyl migration, only a relatively small number of substrates are suitable. These must be highly substituted, for example (48). Whereas on direct excitation in methanol, cleavage to the isomeric ketenes (49) (4> 2 0.42) predominates, the remarkably stereoselective 1,2-acyl shift to the bicyclohexenone (50) is found either in trifluoroethanol or when the dienone is adsorbed on silica gel. The conversion to (50) is followed by a reversible phototransformation to the cross-conjugated dienone (51) and accompanied by aromatization to (52) to a minor extent. Such reactivity has also been verified for tetra- and penta-methylated 2,4-cyclohexadienones. The only photoreaction of the hexamethylated homolog, on the other hand, is ketene formation. ° ... 

The photoisomerisation kinetics and other properties of the 1 1 inclusion complexes formed between aromatic derivatives of norbomadiene and P-cyclo-dextrin have been measured." (S)- or (R)-2-Chloropropiophenone affords partially racemised (S)- or (R)-2-phenylpropionic acid respectively by a photo-induced rearrangement via what is probably an ion or radieal intermediate," and (Z)-N-substituted benzoyl-a-dehydrophenylalanines such as (7) are photo-isomerised to 1-azetidine derivatives (8) by a 1,3-acyl migration. Irradiation of 9,9 -bifluorene-9,9 -diol (9) gives a mixture of fluoren-9-one and spiro[9H-fluorene-9,9 (10 -H)-phenanthren]-10 -one (10) whose composition is solvent dependent with the more polar solvents favouring (10). Laser flash photolysis shows the presence of two transients, one of which can be identified with the 9-fluorenyl cation (11), and which originates from photoheterolysis of the diol (9). There is also evidence to support the view that unimolecular rearrange-... 

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