Stereoselective O2-induced photoisomerization of all-trans-1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene

Abstract

Irradiation of all-trans-1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene (ttt-DPH) in degassed acetonitrile (AN) gives ctt- and tct-DPH, relatively inefficiently, mainly via isomerization in the singlet excited state. The triplet contribution to the photoisomerization is small due to a very low intersystem crossing yield (ϕis = 0.01). Central bond isomerization is quenched in the presence of air by a factor of 1.4, consistent with the expected quenching of the lowest singlet and triplet excited states by oxygen. However, the presence of air enhances terminal bond photoisomerization by nearly twofold. Triplet-sensitized ttt-DPH photoisomerization favors tct-DPH formation and is quenched by oxygen. It follows that the interaction of singlet-excited ttt-DPH with O2 suppresses isomerization to tct-DPH but opens a new isomerization pathway to ctt-DPH. The presence of dimethylfuran, a singlet O2 trap, has no effect on the photoisomerization, eliminating the possible involvement of singlet O2 in this new reaction. ttt-DPH radical cations are ruled out as intermediates because the presence of fumaronitrile, which leads to their formation, suppresses both central and terminal bond photoisomerizations. In contrast to acetonitrile, ctt-DPH formation is quenched by oxygen in methylcyclohexane, suggesting the requirement of a polar environment. Strikingly different deuterium isotope effects distinguish the direct and O2-induced photoisomerization pathways. A comparative study of ttt-DPH-d0 with ttt-DPH-d2 and ttt-DPH-d4, involving deuteration of one and both terminal double bonds, reveals an inverse kinetic isotope effect (kHox/kDox = 0.92) for the O2-induced reaction. An attractive mechanism for the new oxygen-induced photoisomerization involves charge transfer from the S1 state of ttt-DPH to oxygen followed by collapse of the exciplex to either a zwitterionic or a biradicaloid species through bonding at one of the benzylic positions. Rotation about the new single bond in this intermediate followed by reversion to DPH and O2 gives the observed result. Key words: diphenylhexatrienes, trans-cis photoisomerization, oxygen sensitization.