Participation of a heterolytic path in the photochemistry of chlorobenzene

Charge-Separated Reactive Intermediates from the UV Photodissociation of Chlorobenzene in Solution

Although ultraviolet (UV)-induced photochemical cleavage of carbon–halogen bonds in gaseous halocarbons is mostly homolytic, the photolysis of chlorobenzene in solution has been proposed to produce a phenyl cation, c-C₆H₅⁺, which is a highly reactive intermediate of potential use in chemical synthesis and N₂ activation. Any evidence for such a route to phenyl cations is indirect, with uncertainty remaining about the possible mechanism. Here, ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy of UV-excited (λ = 240 and 270 nm) chlorobenzene solutions in fluorinated (perfluorohexane) and protic (ethanol and 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol) solvents reveals a broad electronic absorption band centered at 540 nm that is assigned to an isomer of chlorobenzene with both charge-separated and triplet-spin carbene character. This spectroscopic feature is weaker, or absent, when experiments are conducted in cyclohexane. The intermediate isomer of chlorobenzene has a solvent-dependent lifetime of 30–110 ps, determined by reaction with the solvent or quenching to a lower-lying singlet state. Evidence is presented for dissociation to ortho-benzyne, but the intermediate could also be a precursor to phenyl cation formation.

Photoinduced arylation of chloroarenes in flow: synthesis of unsymmetrical biaryls

A photoflow cross-coupling reaction of unactivated arenes and aryl chlorides is developed for the synthesis of unsymmetrical biaryl products.

On the Route to the Photogeneration of Heteroaryl Cations. The Case of Halothiophenes

2-Chloro-, 2-bromo-, and 2-iodothiophenes undergo photochemical dehalogenation via the triplet state. In the presence of suitable π-bond nucleophiles, thienylation occurs with modest yield from chloro and bromo derivatives (via photogenerated triplet 2-thienyl cation). Specific trapping by using oxygen along with computational analysis carried out by means of a density functional method support that, in the case of iodo derivatives, homolytic thienyl-I bond fragmentation occurs first and heteroaryl cations are formed by electron transfer within the triplet radical pair, thus opening an indirect access to such cations.

Conditions and Edges for the Photochemical Generation of Short-Lived Aryl Cations: A Computational Approach

A DFT investigation on the conditions required for the photochemical generation of triplet aryl cations from differently para-substituted aryl halides has been carried out. The results showed a correlation between the energy change associated with the Ar–X bond heterolytic cleavage and the substituent Hammett–Brown constant (σp +). The method provides a means to predict the viability of the ArSN1 photosubstitution reaction.

Direct photodegradation of lamotrigine (an antiepileptic) in simulated sunlight--pH influenced rates and products

Lamotrigine is an antiepileptic and mood stabilizing drug that has been detected in wastewater, groundwater, surface water and drinking water, at frequencies in surface water ranging from 47 to 97%. Because lamotrigine is a weak base (pKa = 5.7) that appears in two protonation states in natural waters, this study examined the direct photodegradation of lamotrigine (11.4 to 12.0 mg L(-1)) in simulated sunlight using liquid chromatography-UV diode array detection and buffered aqueous solutions at pH 3.3, 5.3, and 7.7. Lamotrigine's half-life varied little (100 ± 3 to 112 ± 2 h) with solution pH, but its specific light absorption rate was 12 times higher, and its reaction quantum yield was 13 times lower, at pH 7.7 versus pH 3.3. In the estimated midday, midsummer sunlight in Denver, CO, USA (latitude 39.8617 °N), lamotrigine's estimated photodegradation rate was more than twice as fast at pH 7.7 versus pH 3.3. Lamotrigine's photoproducts were detected by liquid chromatography-UV diode array detection and time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Solution pH was shown to affect the identities and relative abundances of lamotrigine's photoproducts. Some photoproducts appeared only in solutions containing protonated lamotrigine, and others appeared only in solutions containing neutral lamotrigine. As a result, different reaction mechanisms were proposed. Finally, lamotrigine's reaction quantum yield (2.51 ± 0.07 × 10(-5) mol einstein(-1) at pH 7.7) and other results suggested that lamotrigine and three photoproducts are approximately as resistant to direct photodegradation as carbamazepine, a frequently detected pharmaceutical in surface waters.

Acetalization allows the photoheterolysis of the Ar-Cl bond in chlorobenzaldehydes and chloroacetophenones

The nonaccessibility of phenyl cations by irradiation of electron-poor aryl chlorides was circumvented by transforming the carbonyl group of aromatic ketones or aldehydes into the corresponding 1,3-dioxolanes and the carboxyl group of benzoate ester into an orthoester functionality. This transformation allowed the heterolytic photoactivation of the Ar-Cl bond in protic media and the generation of phenyl cations. In the presence of π-bond nucleophiles, arylated products were obtained in good to excellent yields.