Topochemical photoreaction, olefin crystals

In order to rationalize such characteristic kinetic behaviour of the topochemical photoreaction, a reaction model has been proposed for constant photoirradiation conditions (Hasegawa and Shiba, 1982). In such conditions the reaction rate is assumed to be dependent solely on the thermal motion of the molecules and to be determined by the potential deviation of two olefin bonds from the optimal positions for the reaction. The distribution of the potential deviation of two olefin bonds from the most stable positions in the crystal at OK is assumed to follow a normal distribution. The reaction probability, which is assumed to be proportional to the rate constant, of a unidimensional model is illustrated as the area under the curve for temperature Tj between 8 and S -I- W in Fig. 7. 

At present, it is common knowledge that not only the photoreactivity, but also the stereochemistry, of the photoproduct is predictable from crystallographic information of starting olefin substrates. This ability of olefinic crystals to dimerize has been widely applied to the topochemical photocycloaddition polymerization of conjugated diolefinic compounds, so called "four-center type photopolymerizations" (7,8). All the photopolymerizable diolefin crystals are related to the center of symmetry mode (centrosymmetric -type crystal) and thus give polymers having cyclobutanes with a 1,3-trans configuration in the main chain on irradiation. 

Methyl 4-[2-(ethylthiocarbonyl)ethenyl]cinnamate (3 SMe) crystallizes into a typical a-translation-type packing structure in which the distances between the ethylenic double bonds are 3.988 A and 4.067 A, respectively. However, the 3 SMe crystal is entirely photostable even though it should be photoreactive based on the topochemical rule (Sukegawa, 1991). Several examples of exceptionally photostable diolefin crystals have been found in compounds having a thioester moiety. Such anomalous behaviour of crystals such as 2 OMe and 3 SMe cannot be explained simply in terms of the topochemical rule since this rule involves only the positional relationship between the reactive olefin pair. 

At present, based on the topochemical rule, the configuration of photoproducts, as well as photoreactivity, can be precisely predicted from the crystal structure of the starting olefin compounds, with certain exceptions. 

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