Synthesis of cyclopropyl silyl ethers and their facile ring opening by photoinduced electron transfer as key step in radical/radical cationic cascade reactions

Sensitizer-controlled photochemical reactivity via upconversion of red light

By combining the energy input from two red photons, chemical reactions that would normally require blue or ultraviolet irradiation become accessible. Key advantages of this biphotonic excitation strategy are that red light usually penetrates deeper into complex reaction mixtures and causes less photo-damage than direct illumination in the blue or ultraviolet. Here, we demonstrate that the primary light-absorber of a dual photocatalytic system comprised of a transition metal-based photosensitizer and an organic co-catalyst can completely alter the reaction outcome. Photochemical reductions are achieved with a copper(i) complex in the presence of a sacrificial electron donor, whereas oxidative substrate activation occurs with an osmium(ii) photosensitizer. Based on time-resolved laser spectroscopy, this changeover in photochemical reactivity is due to different underlying biphotonic mechanisms. Following triplet energy transfer from the osmium(ii) photosensitizer to 9,10-dicyanoanthracene (DCA) and subsequent triplet-triplet annihilation upconversion, the fluorescent singlet excited state of DCA triggers oxidative substrate activation, which initiates the cis to trans isomerization of an olefin, a [2 + 2] cycloaddition, an aryl ether to ester rearrangement, and a Newman-Kwart rearrangement. This oxidative substrate activation stands in contrast to the reactivity with a copper(i) photosensitizer, where photoinduced electron transfer generates the DCA radical anion, which upon further excitation triggers reductive dehalogenations and detosylations. Our study provides the proof-of-concept for controlling the outcome of a red-light driven biphotonic reaction by altering the photosensitizer, and this seems relevant in the greater context of tailoring photochemical reactivities.

Photoinitiated domino reactions: N-(adamantyl)phthalimides and N-(adamantylalkyl)phthalimides

Phthalimides 1-6 undergo photochemical reactions upon direct irradiation as well as triplet sensitization and give rise to new products. Besides formation of the primary photoproducts, the first photochemical step initiates a subsequent thermal domino reaction or a domino sequence of a thermal and a photochemical reaction. The latter, involving two photochemical intramolecular gamma-H abstractions, was observed with phthalimides 1, 3, and 6 and delivered stereospecifically the hexacyclic benzazepine products 12, 19, and 27, respectively. The lowest triplet states of 1-6 were characterized in several solvents upon direct and acetone-sensitized excitation. The intermolecular electron transfer from triethylamine and DABCO was studied, and the radical anions were observed. Electrochemical measurements showed that intramolecular electron transfer from the adamantyl group of 1-6 to the lowest triplet state of the phthalimides is not feasible. The formation of products can be explained by intramolecular H-abstraction from the (alkyl)adamantane to the excited phthalimide, either from the excited singlet state or a hidden upper excited triplet state.

Electron Transfer Promoted Regioselective Ring-Opening Reaction of Cyclopropyl Silyl Ethers

Oxidative ring-opening reactions of cyclopropyl silyl ethers incorporated into bicyclo[m.1.0]alkane framework were investigated. The results show that the regioselectivities for ring-opening of intermediate radical cations, formed by single electron transfer, are governed by the nature of the nucleophile as well as oxidizing species.