Structure and Mechanism in the Photoreduction of Aryl Chlorides in Alkane Solvents

Article abstract of DOI:10.1021/jo01306a033

The photochemical dechlorinations of chlorides of the benzene, naphthalene, and biphenyl series are compared.It is concluded that triplet-state homolysis of the Ar-Cl bond is the preferred reaction pathway provided that the chloro compound has a triplet energy close to the necessary bond-dissociation energy.For 1-chloronaphthalene this is not the case, and an inefficient degradation takes place from the singlet state.