Excited-state reactions ketones

The excited state of ketones can thus initiate free-radical reactions, and this is probably the mechanism for many examples of enhanced photodecomposition of environmental pollutants sensitized by acetone or other simple carbonyl compounds. A good example of such reactions is the acetone-promoted photooxidation of atrazine (24) and related triazine herbicides described by Burkhard and Guth (1976). In water, atrazine absorbs almost no solar UV and was accordingly quite stable to photolysis, but in the presence of large amounts of acetone (about 0.13 M), its half-life was decreased to about 5 hr. The produets were N-dealkylation products and ring-hydroxylated triazines. Similar products were also identified in riboflavin-sensitized photooxidation of triazines (Rejto et al., 1983). Presumably, a principal mechanism of photodecomposition would be H-abstraction from the N-alkyl substituents of atrazine, perhaps in conjunction with electron transfer from the unshmed pairs of the nitrogen atoms. 

The best investigated reactions of this kind are those involving n n excited states of ketones and other carbonyl compounds. It is well known that alkoxy radicals can very easily undergo cleavage and can also very readily abstract hydrogen from CH bonds e.g.. 

The lowest-lying excited state of ketones most often corresponds to a o 7t c=o transition. The maximum of this band is around 280 nm with simple aldehydes or ketones and is shifted to the red for conjugated or aryl derivatives. As hinted above, the unpaired electron on the hq orbital gives to these states electrophilic properties similar to those of alkoxy radicals, and indeed the observed chemistry is similar in the two cases. Typical reactions are a-fragmentation, inter- or intramolecular (from the easily accessible y position) hydrogen abstraction and attack of alkenes (finally resulting in a formal 2h-2 cycloaddition to give an oxetane, the Paterno-Btichi reaction). 

Wagner, P. J. and Chen, C.-R, A rotation-controlled excited state reaction the photoenoUzation of ort/xo-alkyl phenyl ketones, /. Am. Chem. Soc., 98, 239, 1976. 

The bicyclic product is formed by coupling of the two radical sites, while the alkene results from an intramolecular hydrogen-atom transfer. These reactions can be sensitized by aromatic ketones and quenched by typical triplet quenchers and are therefore believed to proceed via triplet excited states. 

The diradical is believed to be preceded on the reaction path by a complex of the alkene with excited-state ketone. This reaction, particularly its stereochemistry and regioselec-... 

A simple aliphatic ketone such as acetone, when promoted to its n,n excited state, undergoes a single unimolecular photochemical reaction in high quantum yield namely a-cleavage giving a methyl and acetyl radical which react further in secondary dark processes. In general, competition... 

The 7T orbital extends over the entire enone system. As a consequence the C —CO bond is strengthened in the excited states and a-cleavage, the important primary photoprocess in nonconjugated ketones, is not observed. The most important unimolecular reaction types are processes which involve... 

Two different alkenes can be brought to reaction to give a [2 -I- 2] cycloaddition product. If one of the reactants is an o, /3-unsaturated ketone 11, this will be easier to bring to an excited state than an ordinary alkene or an enol ether e.g. 12. Consequently the excited carbonyl compound reacts with the ground state enol ether. By a competing reaction pathway, the Patemo-Buchi reaction of the 0, /3-unsaturated ketone may lead to formation of an oxetane, which however shall not be taken into account here ... 

Ordinary aldehydes and ketones can add to alkenes, under the influence of UV light, to give oxetanes. Quinones also react to give spirocyclic oxetanes. This reaction, called the Patemo-BUchi reaction,is similar to the photochemical dimerization of alkenes discussed at 15-61.In general, the mechanism consists of the addition of an excited state of the carbonyl compound to the ground state of the alkene. Both singlet (5i) and n,n triplet states have been shown to add to... 

As it pertains to the solid state photodecarbonylation reaction, the model assumes that most aliphatic ketones have similar excitation energies, that reactions are more likely along the longer-lived triplet excited state, and that each reaction step must be thermoneutral or exothermic to be viable in the solid state. " Using acetone and its decarbonylation intermediates as a reference reaction (dashed lines in Fig. 7.24), we can analyze the energetic requirements to predict the effects of substituents on the stability of the radical intermediates. The a-cleavage reaction of triplet acetone generates an acetyl-methyl radical pair in a process that is 3.5 kcal/mol endothermic and the further loss of CO from acetyl radical is endothermic by 11.0... 

The reaction is stereospecific for at least some aliphatic ketones but not for aromatic carbonyls.197 This result suggests that the reactive excited state is a singlet for aliphatics and a triplets for aromatics. With aromatic ketones, the regioselectivity of addition can usually be predicted on the basis of formation of the more stable of the two possible diradical intermediates obtained by bond formation between oxygen and the alkene.198... 

Zimmerman and co-workers were also able to obtain some information regarding the multiplicities of the excited states responsible for the initial /9-cleavage through quenching and sensitization studies. It was found that both trans-to-cis and cis-to-trans isomerizations could be sensitized by chlorobenzene under conditions where the latter absorbed over 95% of the light. The same product ratio was obtained under these conditions as in the direct irradiation of the ketones. With 1,3-cyclohexadiene or 2,5-dimethyl-2,4-hexadiene as quenchers nearly 90% of the reaction of the trans isomer could be quenched. Again the ratio of the quenched reaction products was the same as in the unquenched reaction. The reaction of the cis isomer, on the other hand, could not be quenched by 1,3-cyclohexadiene or 2,5-dimethyl-2,4-... 

Will the solvent react with the excited state to yield undesirable side-products Often there is a real possibility that the solvent will enter into the picture through reaction with the excited solute. A common example of this is the abstraction of hydrogen atoms from solvents by excited ketones. Several solvents often used for a preliminary examination due to their relative inertness are benzene, /-butanol, carbon disulfide, carbon tetrachloride, and cyclohexane. 

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