Photochemistry 2+2 -cycloadditions

The quiaones have excellent redox properties and are thus important oxidants ia laboratory and biological synthons. The presence of an extensive array of conjugated systems, especially the a,P-unsaturated ketone arrangement, allows the quiaones to participate ia a variety of reactioas. Characteristics of quiaoae reactioas iaclude nucleophilic substitutioa electrophilic, radical, and cycloaddition reactions photochemistry and normal and unusual carbonyl chemistry. 

The photochemistry of alkenes and dienes has already been mentioned in connection with the principles of orbital symmetry control in electrocyclic and cycloaddition processes in Section 13.2. Cycloadditions are considered, from a synthetic viewpoint, in Chapter 6 of Part B. This section will emphasize unimolecular photoreactions of alkenes and dienes. 

Investigation of the photochemistry of protonated durene offers conclusive evidence that the mechanism for isomerization of alkyl-benzenium ions to their bicyclic counterparts is, indeed, a symmetry-allowed disrotatory closure of the pentadienyl cation, rather than a [a2a -f 7r2a] cycloaddition reaction, which has been postulated to account for many of the photoreactions of cyclohexadienones and cyclohexenones (Woodward and Hoffmann, 1970). When the tetramethyl benzenium ion (26) is irradiated in FHSO3 at — 90°, the bicyclo[3,l,0]hexenyl cation (27) is formed exclusively (Childs and Farrington, 1970). If photoisomerization had occurred via a [(r2a-t-772 ] cycloaddition, the expected... 

Padwa and Clough(145) examined the photochemistry of (31) and (32) and found that they did not give the expected products from either a simple A + 2a or a A + 2, cycloaddition ... 

Electron-poor olefins with higher oxidation potentials may decrease the rate of electron transfer and other processes competing for deactivation of the iminium salt excited states may increase. Alternate reaction pathways involving olefin-arene 2 + 2 cycloaddition may take place in the photochemistry of 133 with electron-poor olefins (equation 62)120,121. 

The present volume contains 13 chapters written by experts from 11 countries, and treats topics that were not covered, or that are complementary to topics covered in Volume 1. They include chapters on mass spectra and NMR, two chapters on photochemistry complementing an earlier chapter on synthetic application of the photochemistry of dienes and polyenes. Two chapters deal with intermolecular cyclization and with cycloadditions, and complement a chapter in Volume 1 on intramolecular cyclization, while the chapter on reactions of dienes in water and hydrogen-bonding environments deals partially with cycloaddition in unusual media and complements the earlier chapter on reactions under pressure. The chapters on nucleophiliic and electrophilic additions complements the earlier chapter on radical addition. The chapter on reduction complements the earlier ones on oxidation. Chapters on organometallic complexes, synthetic applications and rearrangement of dienes and polyenes are additional topics discussed. 

The photochemistry of phthalimide systems was thoroughly investigated by many groups over the last two decades. This chromophore shows a broad spectrum of reactivity leading mainly to cycloaddition and photoreduction products by either intermolecular or intramolecular processes. In the presence of electron donors, the electronically excited phthalimide could also undergo electron transfer and act as an electron acceptor. 

The photoinduced reaction of chloranil with various 1,1-diarylethenes is another example of an intramoleclar [2 -I- 2] cycloaddition as reported by Xu and co-workers [86]. Although not interesting from the preparative point of view, the diverse reaction outcomes caused by parallel reaction pathways with and without single-electron transfer and various secondary reactions of the primary products show that the photochemistry involving haloquinones is far from being explored. Another interesting example in this context is the reaction of dichlorobenzoqui-none with various diarylacetylenes in the solid phase via photoinduced electron transfer as reported by Kochi and co-workers [87]. Here, time-resolved spectroscopy revealed the radical ion pair of the two reactants to be the first reactive intermediate that then underwent coupling. 

A study of the photochemistry of 4-acetyl- and 4-benzoyl-5-methyl-1,2,3-triazoles shows that the nature and lifetime of the lowest triplet state depends on the nature of the 1- and 4-substituents. 4-Benzoyl-5-methyl-1,2,3-triazole has a high rate constant for triplet deactivation, which is attributed to interaction of the nitrogen lone pairs with the excited carbonyl function. The compound forms a pinacol derivative when irradiated in propan-2-ol and undergoes cycloaddition, involving the carbonyl group, with 2-methylpropene, giving an oxetane derivative. 

A. C. Weedon, in W. M. Horspool (ed.). Synthetic Organic Photochemistry, Plenum 11984). This review covers the use of enone photochemical cycloadditions in organic synlhesis, with extensive tabulated data and many synthetic strategies. 

Two types of reaction are observed for thioketones that do not have parallels in ketone photochemistry. The first is photocyclization in thioketones with polycyclic aromatic groups (4.104), where the sulfur atom forms a new bond to the aromatic system. The second is photo-oxidation by singlet oxygen to give the corresponding carbonyl compound 4.10S), possibly via a 1,2,3-dioxathietane formed as a result of initial cycloaddition. 

G. )ones, in A. Padwa (ed.). Organic Photochemistry, vol. 5, Dekker (1981). This is a review of synthetic applications of the photochemical cycloaddition of carbonyl compounds. 

All of the photochemical cycloaddition reactions of the stilbenes are presumed to occur via excited state ir-ir type complexes (excimers, exciplexes, or excited charge-transfer complexes). Both the ground state and excited state complexes of t-1 are more stable than expected on the basis of redox potentials and singlet energy. Exciplex formation helps overcome the entropic problems associated with a bimolecular cycloaddition process and predetermines the adduct stereochemistry. Formation of an excited state complex is a necessary, but not a sufficient condition for cycloaddition. In fact, increased exciplex stability can result in decreased quantum yields for cycloaddition, due to an increased barrier for covalent bond formation (Fig. 2). The cycloaddition reactions of t-1 proceed with complete retention of stilbene and alkene photochemistry, indicative of either a concerted or short-lived singlet biradical mechanism. The observation of acyclic adduct formation in the reactions of It with nonconjugated dienes supports the biradical mechanism. 

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