Naphthalene, acylation cycloadditions

Di-(l-naphthylmethyl)sulphone forms an excimer but does not react to give an intramolecular cycloaddition product like the corresponding ether but rather fragments to give sulphur dioxide and (l-naphthyl)methyl radicals (Amiri and Mellor, 1978). I-Naphthylacetyl chloride has a very low quantum yield of fluorescence and this is possibly due to exciplex formation between the acyl group and the naphthalene nucleus (Tamaki, 1979). Irradiation leads to decarbonylation. It is known that acyl chlorides quench the fluorescence of aromatic hydrocarbons and that this process leads to acylation of the aromatic hydrocarbon (Tamaki, 1978a). The decarboxylation of anhydrides of phenylacetic acids [171] has been interpreted as shown in (53), involving... 

Electrophilic substitution and other reactions of naphthalenes (alkylation, acylation, condensation and migration in acidic ionic liquids have been reported. Anthracene undergoes photochemical [4+4] cycloaddition reactions - in acidic chloroaluminate(III) ionic liquids. One interesting study ineluded a one-pot synthesis of anthraquinone from benzene giving a 94% yield. In general a much wider range of redox products are formed than occur in conventional solvents the strong Bronsted acidity of die ionic liquid induces protonation of anthracene, by residual traces of HCl, to form an anthracenium species which couples readily via photochemically driven electron transfer mechanisms. 

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