Photocycloaddition reactions of carbonyl compounds

Photocycloaddition Reactions of Carbonyl Compounds and Alkenes. Photocycloaddition of ketones and aldehydes with alkenes can result in formation of four-membered cyclic ethers (oxetanes), a process often referred to as the Paterno-Buchi reaction.196... 

Scheme 6.11. Photocycloaddition Reactions of Carbonyl Compounds and Alkenes...

VII. Tabular Survey of Photocycloaddition Reactions of Carbonyl Compounds to Unsaturated Systems which Yield Oxetanes. 349... 

The same inefficiencies occur in the photocycloaddition reaction of carbonyl compounds with high-energy triplets to acyclic olefins (Table VIII). Here, the olefin triplet presumably deactivates before dimerization can occur. 

VII. TABULAR SURVEY OF PHOTOCYCLOADDITION REACTIONS OF CARBONYL COMPOUNDS TO UNSATURATED SYSTEMS WHICH YIELD OXETANES... 

In contrast to photocycloaddition reactions of carbonyl compounds to electron-rich alkenes (which proceed with a low degree of stereoselectivity in the case of triplet excited carbonyls), reactions with electron-deficient alkenes, such as cyanoalkenes, are, although rather inefficient, but highly stereoselective [101]. Kinetic analysis showed that these reactions involve the... 

As noted in the introduction to this section, under UV light irradiation, carbonyl groups [42] and alkenes [43] will add photochemically in a 2 + 2 sense across the 2- and 3-positions of indole, but only if an acyl or aroyl group is present on the indole nitrogen atom. The photocycloaddition reaction of carbonyl compounds with acylindoles was first reported by Julian and Tringham in 1973 [42], They found that irradiation of N-acetylindole or N-para-chlorobenzoylindole with benzophenone, benzoyl-formamide, or methyl benzoylformate gave oxetane products, as shown in Scheme 12. The stereochemistry of the products was not reported. No products were obtained when the indoles were irradiated with acetophenone, benzaldehyde, acetone, or propionaldehyde. This observation... 

The photocycloaddition of an aldehyde or ketone with an olefin to yield an oxetane was reported by Paterno and Chieffi in 1909. 58> Contemporary studies on the synthetic utility and mechanistic features were initiated nearly 50 years later by Biichi et al. 59) Two review articles summarizing synthetic aspects of Paterno-Biichi reactions have been published 6.12)) and mechanistic studies have been reviewed several times. 6,38,60-62) The reaction involves the addition to olefin of a photo-excited carbonyl moiety. This circumstance makes it advantageous to review this reaction before a discussion of olefin-olefin additions, because the solution photochemistry of carbonyl compounds is probably better understood than any other aspect of organic photochemistry. Many of the reactions of carbonyl compounds have been elucidated during studies of the important phenomena of energy transfer and photosensitization. 63-65)... 

Little has been reported concerning the mechanism of the photocycloaddition reaction however, much is known about the photoreduction of carbonyl compounds.15,16 It has been shown that both hydrogen abstraction, leading to photoreduction, and most photocycloaddition reactions of carbonyl groups are characteristic of the same type of excited state reagent, that is, the carbonyl n,n state.17 Furthermore, much is known about the emission (phosphorescence and fluorescence) of carbonyl compounds, and all of this knowledge can be brought to bear upon the photocycloaddition reaction. 

Irradiation of carbonyl compounds in the presence of dienes usually leads to the isomerization38 and dimerization39 (in concentrated diene solutions) of the dienes, but no photocycloaddition products. These reactions indicate that the dienes have quenched the carbonyl triplet. It is also known from spectroscopic studies that the triplet... 

Thus, the observations that (a) dienes quench the photoreduction reaction (b) the isomerization and dimerization of dienes is sensitized by the it,n carbonyl triplet and (c) there is a lack of photocycloaddition products with dienes, taken in conjunction with the relative energy levels of carbonyl compounds and dienes, form a consistent picture. 

One of the most important and difficult questions to answer for any photochemical reaction is which excited state is involved. Since these are the reagents, it is obviously important, if generalizations are to be made, to know which state is responsible for a given reaction. The question is difficult to answer because several different types of excited states, both singlet and triplet, are attainable even with the simplest of carbonyl compounds, and their reactivity may, in some cases, be similar. All of the discussion thus far has implied that the photocycloaddition reaction is characteristic of the n,n state. What is the evidence that this state can be involved and what is the character of this state which makes it reactive ... 

The importance of the carbonyl n,tr state as a reagent for the photocycloaddition reaction has been mentioned (p. 305). This represents a major limitation, for many carbonyl compounds attain states other than the n,it which are either unreactive, react inefficiently, or undergo other photochemical reactions. It is impossible, at this time, to provide rigorous rules for predicting when a carbonyl compound will attain, and maintain long enough to react, an n,n state. It is perhaps best to mention additional examples of carbonyl compounds that do not yield oxetanes upon irradiation in the presence of simple olefins, presumably because the n,n state is not attained and/or maintained, and to point out how, in some cases, it has been possible to exert some control over this limitation. 

Another example of competition between the photocycloaddition reaction and energy transfer is provided by the irradiation of carbonyl compounds in the presence of dimethyl-AL(2-cyanopropyl)ketenimine 71.96 Here, the energy transfer is indicated by decomposition of the ketenimine. The ratio of photocycloaddition to decomposition products is dependent upon the n,n triplet energy of the carbonyl compound. These experiments are summarized in Table IX. Unlike the previously mentioned case with norbomene, the threshold energy for the competition is very broad, although in about the same region. 

Oxetane Formation—The Patemo-Bnchi Reaction. A large number of carbonyl compounds, primarily aldehydes, ketones, and quinones, form oxetanes by photocycloadditions to olefins.61-63 In general, it is observed that (/) carbonyl compounds which have low-lying (77, ) triplet states and which are photoreduced in isopropyl alcohol form oxetanes most readily, and (2) oxetane formation takes place when energy transfer from the carbonyl compound to the olefin is unfavorable because of the relative location of their triplet levels.64,65 Hence, oxetanes are most readily formed from simple olefins and allenes63,66 but are seldom formed from dienes.67 An extensive review by Arnold63 covers the mechanism and scope of this reaction. 

With conjugated dienes, photocycloaddition of carbonyl compounds occurs at one of the double bonds to give vinyloxetanes. An interesting example is the reaction of acetone with 2-methyl-l,3-butadiene, which gave the two oxetanes (60) and (61) in a ratio of 3 1 and a total yield of about 20% (72JA8761). Other alkenes which have been used for photosynthesis of oxetanes include enol ethers, ketene acetals, enamines, allenes and diketene, with the reaction of the last compound with benzaldehyde illustrated in equation (105) (75CPB365). 

The Patemo-Biichi reaction is a photocycloaddition reaction of a n,ji carbonyl compound to an alkene in the ground state from either the Si or the rl i state. The reaction can occur through the initial C O bond formation or through a previous formation of the C—C bond. A frontier orbitals approach can be used to explain the formation of oxetanes. We can observe the HSOMO-LUMO interaction in which the half-occupied ji carbonyl orbital interacts with the unoccupied ji molecular orbital of an electron-deficient alkene, and a C,0-biradical is formed. The LSOMO-HOMO interaction in which the half-occupied n orbital of the carbonyl O atom interacts with the ji orbital of an electron-rich alkene, and a C,C-biradical is formed [13, 14]. 

The efficiency of these chiral host compounds has been shown in highly enantioselective photocyclization and photocycloaddition reactions of prochiral lactams. These substrates, for example 2-quinolone derivatives, are expected to coordinate to lactam 44 with its NH-group as the hydrogen donor and the carbonyl group as the hydrogen acceptor, as depicted in Scheme 15. In this complex, any... 

Chemical Reactions. Both 1(n, n ) and 3(n, n ) states of carbonyl compounds are chemically reactive, as indicated by intramolecular H-atom abstraction reactions (e.g., Norrish type II), intramolecular rearrangement giving oxacarbenes in cyclic ketones (see ref. 245), intermolecular H-atom abstraction reactions, and photocycloadditions to olefins to form oxetanes in solution ... 

The Patemo-Btichi photocycloaddition reaction - of various carbonyl compounds to furans was initially investigated by Sakurai in 1963 and was found to afford only the head-to-head photoproducts with high exo relative face selectivity. An NMR study by Whipple and Evanega later confirmed the exo mode of cycloaddition. Since the time of the origin report the photoreaction has been systematically studied by several groups and the 2,7-dioxabicyclo[3.2.0]hept-3-ene ring system has been exploited in several facets of synthesis. 

Synthetic application of Paterno-Bilchi reaction of simple dienes with carbonyl compounds is rare. While seemingly an extension of the photocycloaddition of olefins and carbonyl compounds, the reaction between dienes and carbonyls is often complicated by the fact that triplet excited states of carbonyl compounds are quenched by dienes, although the formation of oxetanes can be observed during these reactions. Recall also that the photosensitized dimerization of diene triplet excited states is also a well known reaction vide infra), these two observations would seem to naturally limit the synthetic potential of this process. Kubota and coworkers found that irradiation of propanal in the presence of 1,3-cyclohexadiene produced oxetanes 164a and 164b in a 4 1 ratio (Scheme 37). ... 

A wide variety of other carbonyl compounds can give Paternb-Biichi products when irradiated with alkenes. Studies have been reported on regio-selectivity of photocycloadditions of carbonyl compounds such as thiocarbonyls [91], benzoquinones [92], diacetyls [93], and uracils [94]. A large number of intramolecular reactions have been reported, where the restraint of the reactant structure helps to give good regioselectivity. 

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