Abstract
The photoketonization of two series of β-dicarbonyl compounds was treated in terms of the tunnel effect theory as a radiationless transition. The first series involves derivatives of the ethyl ester of benzoylacetic acid and the second series comprises derivatives of acetoacetic acid. These series showed a strong dependence of the overall photoketonization reaction rate constants on the reaction coordinate, which is constant for a given series. The rate constants of the second series were reproduced using a single value of the enol OH bond energy D OH, whereas the rate constants k r of the first series show a marked dependence on D OH and a correlation between log k r and D OH was found. The successful application of the tunnel effect theory to the photoketonization processes of the compounds studied was interpreted to imply that these processes may in fact involve through-space photochemical hydrogen migration which is governed by the tunnel effect.
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