The Photochemistry of Conformationally Rigid Benzylic Esters: 2,2-Dimethyl-1-indanyl Acetates and Pivalates

Article abstract of DOI:10.1021/jo00118a024

The photochemistry, in methanol, of substituted 2,2-dimethyl-1-indanyl acetates 9a-c and pivalates 10a-c has been studied.In agreement with previous studies on benzylic esters, the results show that the substituents change the yield of products derived from the ion pair.The mechanistic conclusion reached is that the substituents change the oxidation potential of the indanyl radicals and thus the rate constant of electron transfer for converting the radical pair to the ion pair.The results also reveal two other substituent effects.First, substituents can increase the overall efficiency of the photoreaction by enhancing homolytic cleavage.The second effect is conformational.In compounds where the bond that is cleaving is conformationally mobile, such as the C-O bond in benzylic esters, substituents on the ring can change the population of the reactive conformer and thus the overall efficiency of the reaction.For the indanyl acetate esters, the difference in excited-state reaction rate between the m- and p-methoxy substituted ester is 15:1.For the m- and p-methoxy substituted benzyl acetates, this difference in reaction rate is 48:1.The larger difference in reaction rate for the conformationally mobile benzylic esters is attributed to a higher population of the unreactive conformer for the p-methoxy substituted ester.