Sensitized photolyses

TLC analysis of the crude reaction product reveals no additional products. Similarly quantitative results are obtained using benzene, /-butanol and ether as the solvents in the irradiation of (39). The reaction is less sensitive to oxygen than most ketone photolyses resulting in products from a-cleavage processes. 

There is evidence from a detailed study of the photolyses of 2-alkyl-substituted aryl azides 40 in diethylamine that A3,7V-diethyl-1 //-azepin-2-amines are formed as oxygen-sensitive, meta-stablc intermediates that can give rise to a variety of byproducts, including 5-acyl- A%V-diethyl-pyridin-2-amines and 6-alkyl-7-(diethylamino)-2//-azepin-2-ones 11 however, formation of these oxidation products can be avoided by refluxing the photolysate mixture with methanol prior to exposure to oxygen, in which case practicable yields of the /V,/V-diethyl-3W-azepin-2-amines 41 result. 

Photolyses of 3-substituted phenyl azides 53 in hot diethylamine containing pyrene, a singlet sensitizer, furnish mixtures of the 4- and 6-substituted 3ff-azepines 54 and 55. The isomers, however, were not separated and the yields were based on quantitative GC analysis of the reaction mixtures.176 Of mechanistic significance is that the ratios of the isomeric azepines obtained compare favorably with those observed in the deoxygenation of 3-nitroarenes with trivalent phosphorus compounds. 

There is a multiplicity of pathways for thermal dediazoniations. An analogous situation is to be expected for photochemical dediazoniations. Based on the general experience that light-sensitive reactions often involve free radical intermediates, it was commonly assumed that all photolytic dediazoniations are free radical reactions. Horner and Stohr s results (1952), mentioned above, could lead to such a conclusion. More sophisticated methods of photochemistry also began to be applied to investigations on arenediazonium salts, e. g., the study of photolyses by irradiation at an absorption maximum of the diazonium ion using broad-band or monochromatic radiation. This technique was advocated by Sukigahara and Kikuchi (1967 a, 1967 b,... 

In the analogous studies of the photolysis of sulfolane (31), the work of Honda and coworkers66 was carried out in the gas phase at 70-130 °C and established the formation of S02, ethylene, cyclobutane and acetylene as the major products, on mercury-sensitized photolysis. In considerable contrast, photolysis of sulfolane at 185 nm in the liquid phase67 produced ethylene( = 0.22), the sultine (32) (parallel experiments on aqueous solutions of sulfolane, a sulfinic acid is also believed to be formed. The authors believe that both four-membered (33) and six-membered (32) sultines may be formed during these photolyses. Further work in this area would appear to be necessary to unravel the full mechanistic details. 

The reactions outlined in Schemes 8-11 indicate that 1,4-diradicals can trap triplet oxygen to give 6-membered cyclic peroxides in variable yields. For example, even under 10 atm oxygen pressure, Ph2CO-sensitized photolyses of the azoalkanes 42 afford the dienes 43 and bicydo[2.1.1]hexanes 44 as the major products while the bicyclic peroxides 45 are formed in very poor yields 1.5%) (Scheme Failure in oxygen... 

Unsensitized and sensitized photolyses of benzoylmethylene(triphenyl)phosphorane (49) in cyclohexene produce acetophenone (50) and 7-norcaryl phenyl ketone (51) in different ratios (equation 19)87. Direct irradiation also leads to triphenylphosphine (52) and other products87. By analogy with the reaction of diazoacetophenone96 and dimethyl-... 

Bartlett has shown that photodecomposition of azocumene in benzene in the presence of a variety of radical scavengers yields 35% bicumyl as the product of cage recombination in both direct and sensitized photolyses.462 Decomposition of azo-l-cyanocyclohex-ane, 42, yields 1-cyanocyclohexyl radicals which couple in two ways,... 

Photolysis of both 3a-tropanol (32) and the 3/ -isomer (33) in methanolic solution (using Methylene Blue as a sensitizer) gave nortropanols and N-formyl-nortropanols.22 3a-Tropanol gave the N-oxide (34) as a third photo-product. Scopoline (35) was photolysed to the ether of N- (hydroxymethyl)norscopoline (36) besides JV-formylnorscopoline. A photochemical study on cocaines has previously been reviewed23 in these Reports. 

The direct and sensitized photolyses of 26 possessing methoxycarbonyl groups at the geminal position give different regioisomeric vinylcydopropanes (27 and 28) via the regioisomeric DPM rearrangement under multiplicity control (Scheme 4.14)... 

The photolyses of conformationally fixed 3,y-unsaturated ketones can also be performed in constrained media. This was described for the ODPM rearrangement of bicyclo[2.2.1]heptenone and bicyclo[2.2.2]octenone in MY zeolites [47]. It is remarkable that direct irradiation of the guest-incorporated thallium-Y (TIY) zeolites at 254 nm resulted in higher yields of ODPM products than the triplet-sensitized solution photolyses (Sch. 19). This indicates that the triplet carbonyl species are generated more efficiently in the supercages of the zeolites presumably because of the presence of heavy... 

The first naphtho[a]cyclopropene 68d was also obtained by that route. 3H-indazole was proposed as an intermediate in this reaction 78>. The reaction proceeds equally well from the triplet state of 7. However with acetone light capture from the sensitizer may not have been complete. A trapping of the diradical intermediate 67 to give the known indene 69 by photolysing 7 in dimethyl-acetylene-dicarboxylate (ADC) afforded only a trace of 69. However the yield of 68a was reduced to 40%. Either trapping of 67 was not effective enough or ADC may have acted as quencher. Trapping with furan or cyclopentadiene was also not effective 78a). 

Klemm (16) and Lee and coworkers (17) have examined the effect of various solvents on the photochemistry of cyclobutanone. By monitoring the quantum yields for formation of ethylene (B-cleavage product) and cyclopropane (decarbonylation product) in different solvents, they were able to demonstrate a significant reduction in the quantum yields for product formation in methanol as compared to other hydrocarbon solvents. Whereas the quantum yield of ethylene formation was found to be essentially solvent insensitive, that for cyclopropane formation was found to be somewhat solvent sensitive. This suggested that B-cleavage and decarbonylation do not result from the same immediate precursor. Since ring-expansion derivatives have not been isolated from photolyses carried out in saturated hydrocarbon solvents, the importance of this process under these conditions remains to be determined. Irradiation of cyclobutanone in the presence of 1,3-penta-diene (17,59) or 1,3-cyclohexadiene (16) did not appear to affect the quantum yields for ketone disappearance or product appearance. 

Polyolefins.— The mechanism(s) of polyolefin photo-oxidation continue to be shrouded in complexities. Recently Geuskens has attempted to answer questions concerning the sensitized photolysis of hydroperoxides in these polymers in the presence of carbonyl groups. In contrast with the theory proposed above,it is suggested that a complex is formed and photolysed to produce a carboxylic acid and an ether directly (Scheme 19) rather than free hydroxyl radicals. 

Despite the fact that numerous studies have been made on the direct and sensitized photolyses of acetylene, a complete understanding of the mechanism has not yet been achieved. Polymer formation and pressure dependence of quantum yields complicate the interpretation of the results. 

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