Laser photochemistry of aromatic substituted cyclobutanes and cyclobutenes

✍ Scribed by D. Plaas; F.P. Schäfer

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1986
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 446 KB
• Volume: 131
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0009-2614
• DOI: 10.1016/0009-2614(86)80577-2

✦ Synopsis

The photochemical ring opening and ring cleavage reactions of 6b,8a-dihydrocyclobut[a]acenaphthylene

(1) and two similar compounds are described. These reactions occur at room temperature only if the irradiating light intensity is greater than MW/cm2, easily obtained with excimer and dye lasers. This is rationalized in terms of a consecutive two-photon absorption to reach higher-lying reactive states. The mechanism proposed for the reaction of 1 also describes the product distribution, which depends on irradiation parameters such as laser pulse length, wavelength, intensity, and oxygen content of the solvent.