The mechanism of photodimerization of acenaphthylene (ACN) has been investigated in order to elucidate the roles of the singlet and the triplet excited states of ACN in the formation of the Zand E-dimers in several solvents. The quantum yields and the ratio of the produced Z-to E-dimer were determined under irradiation of ACN at 435.8 nm in several solvents (1,2-dichloroethane, acetonitrile, cyclohexane, benzene, methanol, and DMF) over a wide concentration range (2.0 × 10 -4 -2.0 M) in the absence of additives and in the presence of 1,2-dibromoethane, a heavy-atomcontaining solvent; Eosin-Y, a triplet sensitizer (irradiated at 546.1 nm); and ferrocene, a triplet quencher. On irradiation of ACN in dilute solution, the initially generated S 1 state crosses over to the T 1 state, though with low quantum yield, before reaction with the ground state ACN can occur due to the very short lifetime of the S 1 state, and the resultant T 1 state reacts with ground state ACN to give a mixture of the Z-and E-dimers in a ratio that depends on the solvent employed. In more concentrated solution, the S 1 state reacts with ACN before intersystem crossing to the T 1 state can occur, affording exclusively the Z-dimer.

The mechanism of photodimerization of acenaphthylene (ACN) and of reactions with tetracyanoethylene (TCNE) by electron transfer (ET) has been investigated in solution and solid state to elucidate the role of the radical cation of ACN (ACN+•) in formation of the cisoid-dimer (cisoid-1) and the transoid-dimer (transoid-1) of ACN and addition products to TCNE. Selective excitation of the 1:1 charge-transfer (CT) complex between ACN and TCNE with light of >500 nm did not result in any reaction in acetonitrile (AN) or 1,2-dichloroethane (DCE). On the other hand, direct irradiation of ACN with light of >400 nm in solution in the presence of TCNE gave cisoid-1 and transoid- 1 as the major products together with a [2 + 2]-adduct (2) and two isomeric [2 + 2 + 2]-adducts (3 and 4) of ACN and TCNE as minor products. Distinction of photochemical reactivity between selective CT excitation and direct excitation of ACN can be attributed to faster backward electron transfer (BET) from the contact radical ion pair (CIP) on CT excitation than from the solvent-separated radical ion pair (SSIP) on direct excitation of ACN due to very low energy for BET, as low as 1.34 V. Effect of [TCNE] on quantum yield for the dimerization of ACN and on the cisoid/transoid ratio of the resulted 1 rationalizes the mechanism involving the singlet and triplet SSIP; the former tends to undergo BET, but the latter undergoes dissociation to ACN+•, followed by formation of dimeric radical cation of ACN, ACN2 +•, finally leading to 1. A possible mechanism for formation of 3 and 4 is discussed on the basis of concentration dependence of ACN. Contrary to photochemical inertness of the CT complex in solutions, CT excitation of the 1:1 crystal of ACN and TCNE (ACN·TCNE) gave 2 as the sole product. The selective formation of 2 indicates that fixation of the two alkenic CC double bonds in ACN·TCNE separated by 3−4 Å in both the excited CT state and the resulted CIP retards the deactivation and BET but enables them to undergo cycloaddition.

The mechanism of the photochemical rearrangement of diphenyl ether (1a) was studied. Irradiation of 1a in ethanol gave 2-phenylphenol (2, 42%) and 4-phenylphenol (3, 11%) as rearrangement products, in addition to phenol (4, 30%) and benzene (5, 25%) as diffusion products. Cross-coupling experiments employing [(2)H(10)]1a demonstrated that the formation of 2- and 4-phenylphenol was an intramolecular process. Irradiation of 1a in benzene or in toluene gave biphenyls in good yields. The combined yields of rearrangement products (2and 3) increased with increase of solvent viscosity, with a concomitant decrease in the formation of 4. All the results can be rationalized in terms of excitation of 1a to the singlet state and dissociation to a radical pair intermediate involving phenoxy and phenyl radicals. Intramolecular recombination of these radicals gives rearrangement products, and escape followed by hydrogen abstraction from the solvent gives diffusion products. When position 4 of 1a was occupied by an electron-donating substituent (1b-e), aryloxy-phenyl bond cleavage to give the corresponding rearrangement products prevailed over phenoxy-aryl bond cleavage. The opposite was the case for substrates with an electron-withdrawing substituent at position 4 (1h,i).