Stilbenes, photochemical

The photochemical ring closure of certain stilbenes, eg, the highly methyl substituted compound (2) [108028-39-3], C22H2g, and their heterocycHc analogues is the basis for another class of photochromic compounds (31—33). 

Other isocyanates undergo [2 + 2] cycloaddition, but only with very electron rich alkenes. Thus phenyl isocyanate gives /3-lactams with ketene acetals and tetramethoxyethylene. With enamines, unstable /3-lactams are formed if the enamine has a /3-H atom, ring opened amides are produced 2 1 adducts are also found. Photochemical addition of cis- and traH5-stilbene to phenyl isocyanate has also been reported (72CC362). 

Especially detailed study of the mechanism of photochemical configurational isomerism has been done on Z- and A-stilbene." Spectroscopic data have established... 

Fig. 13.11. A schematic drawing of the potential energy surfaces for the photochemical reactions of stilbene. Approximate branching ratios and quantum yields for the important processes are indicated. In this figure, the ground- and excited-state barrier heights are drawn to scale representing the best available values, as are the relative energies of the ground states of Z- and E -stilbene 4a,4b-dihydrophenanthrene (DHP). [Reproduced from R. J. Sension, S. T. Repinec, A. Z. Szarka, and R. M. Hochstrasser, J. Chem. Phys. 98 6291 (1993) by permission of the American Institute of Physics.]...

Category 4. Photoisomerization. The most common reaction in this category is photochemical cis-trans isomerization." For example, cw-stilbene can be... 

Two types of reactions are important in the photochemical transformation of PAHs, those with molecnlar oxygen and those involving cyclization. lllnstrative examples are provided by the photooxidation of 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (Lee and Harvey 1986) (Fignre 1.14a) and benzo[a]pyrene (Lee-Ruff et al. 1986) (Figure 1.14b), and the cyclization of CM-stilbene (Figure 1.14c). 

Electronic excited states are often reactive intermediates in many photochemical reactions. In a number of cases, the excited state may undergo energy relaxation. The photoisomerization reaction of fra i-stilbene provides a well-studied... 

The mechanism for the direct photochemical cis-trans isomerization of stilbene has been a highly controversial subject. However, a recent review by Saltiel and co-workers greatly helps to clarify this area of research by painting a detailed and beautifully consistent picture. We will make extensive reference to this review.U)... 

We emphasize that the critical ion pair stilbene+, CA in the two photoactivation methodologies (i.e., charge-transfer activation as well as chloranil activation) is the same, and the different multiplicities of the ion pairs control only the timescale of reaction sequences.14 Moreover, based on the detailed kinetic analysis of the time-resolved absorption spectra and the effect of solvent polarity (and added salt) on photochemical efficiencies for the oxetane formation, it is readily concluded that the initially formed ion pair undergoes a slow coupling (kc - 108 s-1). Thus competition to form solvent-separated ion pairs as well as back electron transfer limits the quantum yields of oxetane production. Such ion-pair dynamics are readily modulated by choosing a solvent of low polarity for the efficient production of oxetane. Also note that a similar electron-transfer mechanism was demonstrated for the cycloaddition of a variety of diarylacetylenes with a quinone via the [D, A] complex56 (Scheme 12). 

On the other hand, reactions in which the return to So occurs from a "non-spectroscopic minimum (Fig. 3, path g) are probably the most common kind. The return is virtually always non-radiativef). This may be the very first minimum in Si (Ti) reached, e.g., the twisted triplet ethylene, or the molecule may have already landed in and again escaped out of a series of minima (Fig. 3, sequence c, e). For instance, triplet excitation of trans-stilbene 70,81-83) gives a relatively long-lived trans-stilbene triplet corresponding to a first spectroscopic minimum in Ti. This is followed by escape to the non-spectroscopic , short-lived phantom twisted stilbene triplet, corresponding to a second and last minimum in Ti. This escape is responsible for the still relatively short lifetime of the planar nn triplet compared to nn triplet of, say, naphthalene. A jump to nearby So and return to So minima at cis- and trans-stilbene geometries complete the photochemical process ). 

Energy is transferred from molecules electronically excited in a chemical reaction to other molecules which emit the accepted excitation energy in the form of light alternatively the accepting molecules can undergo photochemical transformations. First examples of this photochemistry without light were described by E. H. White and coworkers 182>. Thus the trans-stilbene hydrazide 127, on oxidation, yielded small amounts of the cis- 128 beside the trans-stilbene dicarboxylate in a luminol-type reaction. 

Up to about 10 percent of crs-stilbene was obtained when trimethyl-dioxetane 129 was decomposed in the presence of trans-stilbene 182) the electronic excitation energy of the excited carbonyl compounds formed in the cleavage of 129 (see Section V.) was transferred to trans-stilbene, so effecting the photochemical trans-cis isomerization. When bis (2.4-dinitrophenyl) oxalate reacted with hydrogen peroxide (see Section V. C. in the presence of o-tolyl-propane-1.2-dione 130, 2-methyl-2-... 

The photochemical isomerization of E-stilbenes has been applied in the preparation of phenanthrenes, as Z-stilbenes undergo electrocyclie ring closure (cf. chapter 3.1.3) to dihydrophenanthrenes which in turn are easily oxidized to phenanthrenes (3.1) 305). This sequence has also been employed in the synthesis of benzoquinolines 306) or of benzoquinolizines (3.2) 307). 

Irradiation rraws-2-[3-(7V-methylamino)propyl] stilbene 89 results in the formation of 7V-methyl-l-benzyltetrahydro-2-benzazepine 90 as the only significant primary photoproduct (equation 26), which in turn undergoes secondary photochemical N-demethylation. The final mixture contains 90 (38%) and 91 (25%) at high (>95%) conversion. Intramolecular photoadditions of these (equations 24-26) secondary (aminoalkyl)-stilbenes are highly regioselective processes24. 

Photochemical addition of ammonia and primary amines to aryl olefins (equation 42) can be effected by irradiation in the presence of an electron acceptor such as dicyanoben-zene (DCNB)103-106. The proposed mechanism for the sensitised addition to the stilbene system is shown in Scheme 7. Electron transfer quenching of DCNB by t-S (or vice versa) yields the t-S cation radical (t-S)+ Nucleophilic addition of ammonia or the primary amine to (t-S)+ followed by proton and electron transfer steps yields the adduct and regenerates the electron transfer sensitizer. The reaction is a variation of the electron-transfer sensitized addition of nucleophiles to terminal arylolefins107,108. 

Electron-transfer catalytic cycles with oxygen were also discovered in photochemical reactions with participation of an excited sensibilizer (9,10-dicyanoanthracene [DCNA]) and stilbene. The sensitizer assists an electron transfer from the substrate to oxygen. Oxygen transforms into the superoxide ion. Stilbene turns into benzaldehyde. In the absence of the sensitizer, this reaction does not take place even on photoirradiation (when oxygen exists in the first singlet state). In the singlet state,... 

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