Photolysis of bromo- and chloro-substituted benzyl derivatives. Competition between ionic and radical pathways

Photolysis of 1-fluoro-2-halo-1,2-diphenylethanes was studied in solutions of tetrahydrofuran, acetonitrile, and cyclohexane. The effect of free radical inhibitor and metal hydrides on products formation as well as their ratio was analyzed to elucidate the reaction pathway. In the first step homolytic C-X bond cleavage occurs from a single excited state, resulting in a biradical pair. Further reaction path depends on the type of the halogen bonded and on the solvent polarity. Electron transfer within the radical pair cage is apparently more rapid for bromides than for chlorides and is opposite as expected on the basis of the relative electronegativities of chlorine and bromine. As radicals approach each other, they fall into ionic or radical product channels. This is influenced by solvent polarity, resulting in the larger yield of ionic products in the case of acetonitrile as in the case of less polar cyclohexane.