title: Selectivity in the photodimerization of 6-alkylcoumarins.
abstract: Coumarin and 6-alkylcoumarins (alkyl = C(1) to C(16)) were photodimerized in homogeneous solvents differing in polarity and in aqueous micellar solutions. The four possible photodimers, syn head-to-head (hh), anti head-to-head, syn head-to-tail (ht), and anti head-to-tail, were identified through a combination of X-ray analysis and NMR spectroscopy. In 6-methylcoumarin the concentration-corrected dimerization (quantum) yield increases with decreasing concentration of the educt; anti-hh was formed exclusively in nonpolar solvents and upon triplet sensitization and was the main product under all conditions except for ionic micellar systems, which direct to preferred syn-hh dimerization. Long alkyl substituents, however, lead to anti-hh in polar solvents and in micelles, too. Predominating ht dimer formation was observed for nonsubstituted coumarin in polar solvents only. Thus, syn/anti and hh/ht selectivity can be steered by varying the 6-alkyl substituent. Syn-hh photodimers of 6-methylcoumarin can be photochemically split into the monomers; they partly proved thermally unstable against acids, bases, methanol, and on SiO(2) surfaces.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physical Chemistry, Institute of Organic Chemistry, Institute of Inorganic Chemistry, Technische Universität Dresden, Mommsenstr. 13, D-01062 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Xiuling
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Dieter
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Scheller
authors.forename: Otto
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Rademacher
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wolff