Collection of Czechoslovak Chemical Communications - digital archive 

Abstract

Ultraviolet photolysis of 3,4-dimethoxybenzonitrile (Ia) and 3,4-dimethoxyacetophenone (IIa) in the presence of the hydroxide or cyanide anion leads to nucleophilic displacement of either the para or the meta methoxy substituent. The ratio of isomeric photoproducts is dependent upon the nature of the nucleophile. Photoreactions with the OH^- anion lead exclusively to the substitution at C-3. On the other hand, both isomers are formed when acetophenone IIa is irradiated in the presence of CN^-, with the C-3/C-4 substitution ratio 3:2. In the case of the photocyanation of Ia, the C-4 substituted product dominates, the C-3/C-4 ratio ranging from 1:2 to 1:6 in dependence on the nucleophile concentration. These differences between the OH^- and CN^- anions are related to the results of a fluorescence quenching study which has revealed that only the latter nucleophile interacts with singlet-excited substrates. A non-linear Stern-Volmer plot was observed for the quenching of the second excited state of Ia by the cyanide anion. This indicates several distinct quenching modes, in relation to the concentration dependence of regioselectivity. The activating power of –H, -CN, -COCH₃, and -NO₂ substituents, as measured by relative quantum yields of disappearance for 3,4-dimethoxy-R-substituted benzenes, is 1:2.5:5:580 and 1:1.5:6:1000 in their photoreactions with OH^- and CN^- anions, respectively.