Photoinduced intramolecular electron transfer mechanism for photochemical dissociation of para-substituted benzyl 9,10-dimethoxyanthracene-2-sulfonates
摘要:
The photochemical behavior of para-substituted benzyl 9,10-dimethoxyanthracene-2-sulfonates with varying electron-withdrawing ability of substitutents has been investigated by both steady-state and laser flash photolysis techniques. p-Nitrobenzyl 9,10-dimethoxyanthracene-2-sulfonate is photochemically dissociated to give 9,10-dimethoxyanthracene-2-sulfonic acid, 9,10-dimethoxy-2-(p-nitrobenzyl)anthracene, and p,p'-dinitrobibenzyl which were assigned on the basis of mass spectroscopic data and H-1 NMR spectroscopy. Quantum yields for the photodissociation of p-nitrobenzyl 9,10-dimethoxyanthracene-2-sulfonate and for the formation of 9,10-dimethoxyanthracene-2-sulfonic acid with excitation at 436 nm in degassed acetonitrile solution are 0.12 +/- 0.03 and 0.10 +/- 0.03, respectively. Photodissociation of p-nitrobenzyl 9,10-dimethoxyanthracene-2-sulfonate is considered to proceed via an intramolecular electron transfer from the excited singlet state of 9,10-dimethoxyanthracene moiety to p-nitrobenzyl moiety followed by the heterolytic bond cleavage at oxygen-carbon bond of the sulfonyl ester from the fact that the transient absorptions at 310 and 425 nm due to 9,10-dimethoxyanthracene-2-sulfonate radical cation and around 340 nm due to p-nitrobenzyl radical anion are detected in laser spectroscopy. The rate constant for dissociation of p-nitrobenzyl 9,10-dimethoxyanthracene-2-sulfonate was determined to be (1.1 +/- 0.5) x 10(5) s-1 by kinetic analyses. Possible mechanisms for the photodissociation are discussed and it is concluded that the three factors which control the rate of photodissociation are intramolecular electron transfer, feasibility of oxygen-carbon bond scission, and stability of benzyl-type radical formed by the photodissociation.