Time-resolved resonance Raman observation of the dimerization of didehydroazepines in solution

Time-resolved resonance Raman (TR3) studies of the photochemistry of phenyl azide, 3-hyroxyphenyl azide, 3-methoxyphenyl azide and 3-nitrophenyl azide in acetonitrile:water solutions is reported. After photolysis of these four aryl azides in room temperature solutions, only one species was observed in the TR3 spectra for each azide, respectively at the probe wavelengths employed in the TR3 experiments. The species observed after photolysis of 3-nitrophenyl azide was assigned to 3,3'-dinitroazobenzene, an azo compound formed from the dimerization reaction of triplet 3-nitrophenylnitrene. In contrast, the species observed after photolysis of phenyl azide, 3-hydroxyphenyl azide and 3-methoxyphenyl azide were tentatively assigned to intermediates formed from the dimerization of didehydroazepines that are produced from the ring expansion reaction of the respective singlet arylnitrene. To our knowledge, this is the first time-resolved vibrational spectroscopic observation of the dimerization reaction of didehydroazepines in solution. In addition, these are the first resonance Raman spectra reported for dimers formed from didehydroazepines. We briefly discuss the structures, properties and chemical reactivity of the dimer species observed in the TR3 spectra and possible implications for the photochemistry of aryl azides.     

Ultrafast infrared and UV-vis studies of the photochemistry of methoxycarbonylphenyl azides in solution

The photochemistry of 4-methoxycarbonylphenyl azide (2a), 2-methoxycarbonylphenyl azide (3a), and 2-methoxy-6-methoxycarbonylphenyl azide (4a) were studied by ultrafast time-resolved infrared (IR) and UV-vis spectroscopies in solution. Singlet nitrenes and ketenimines were observed and characterized for all three azides. Isoxazole species 3g and 4g are generated after photolysis of 3a and 4a, respectively, in acetonitrile. Triplet nitrene 4e formation correlated with the decay of singlet nitrene 4b. The presence of water does not change the chemistry or kinetics of singlet nitrenes 2b and 3b, but leads to protonation of 4b to produce nitrenium ion 4f. Singlet nitrenes 2b and 3b have lifetimes of 2 ns and 400 ps, respectively, in solution at ambient temperature. The singlet nitrene 4b in acetonitrile has a lifetime of about 800 ps, and reacts with water with a rate constant of 1.9 × 10(8) L·mol(-1)·s(-1) at room temperature. These results indicate that a methoxycarbonyl group at either the para or ortho positions has little influence on the ISC rate, but that the presence of a 2-methoxy group dramatically accelerates the ISC rate relative to the unsubstituted phenylnitrene. An ortho-methoxy group highly stabilizes the corresponding nitrenium ion and favors its formation in aqueous solvents. This substituent has little influence on the ring-expansion rate. These results are consistent with theoretical calculations for the various intermediates and their transition states. Cyclization from the nitrene to the azirine intermediate is favored to proceed toward the electron-deficient ester group; however, the higher energy barrier is the ring-opening process, that is, azirine to ketenimine formation, rendering the formation of the ester-ketenimine (4d') to be less favorable than the isomeric MeO-ketenimine (4d).     

瞬态吸收和共振拉曼光谱研究硝基对联苯氮宾、氮宾离子反应活性的影响

利用光解芳基叠氮化合物得到单重态氮宾,运用纳秒瞬态吸收光谱、瞬态共振拉曼光谱实验手段,辅以密度泛函理论(DFT)计算,研究了4'-硝基-4-联苯氮宾在乙腈和水溶液中的光化学反应中间体。实验结果表明,在非质子溶剂中, 4'-硝基-4-联苯氮宾发生系间窜越反应生成三线态氮宾;在质子溶剂中,单重态氮宾可被质子化产生氮宾离子。与4-联苯氮宾和氮宾离子相比,硝基对单重态氮宾系间窜越反应路径影响很小;降低了氮宾离子与水和叠氮阴离子的反应活性,却提高了其与鸟苷的反应活性。     

Photochemistry of ortho, ortho' dialkyl phenyl azides

Phenyl azide, 2,6-diethylphenyl azide, 2,6-diisopropylphenyl azide, and 2,4,6-tri-tert-butylphenyl azide were studied by laser flash photolysis (LFP) methods. LFP (266 nm) of the azides in glassy 3-methylpentane at 77 K produces the transient UV-vis absorption spectra of the corresponding singlet nitrenes. At 77 K, the singlet nitrenes relax to the corresponding triplet nitrenes. The triplet nitrenes are persistent at 77 K and their spectra were recorded. The rate constants of singlet to triplet intersystem crossing were determined at this temperature. LFP of 2,4,6-tri-tert-butyl phenyl azide in pentane at ambient temperature again produces a singlet nitrene, which is too short-lived to detect by nanosecond spectroscopy under these conditions. Unlike the other azides, the first detectable intermediate produced upon LFP of 2,4,6-tri-tert-butyl phenyl azide at ambient temperature is the benzazirine (285 nm) which has a lifetime of 62 ns controlled by ring opening to a didehydroazepine. The results are interpreted with the aid of Density Functional Theoretical and Molecular Orbital Calculations.     

Ultrafast spectroscopy and computational study of the photochemistry of diphenylphosphoryl azide: direct spectroscopic observation of a singlet phosphorylnitrene

The photochemistry of diphenylphosphoryl azide was studied by femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy, by chemical analysis of light-induced reaction products, and by RI-CC2/TZVP and TD-B3LYP/TZVP computational methods. Theoretical methods predicted two possible mechanisms for singlet diphenylphosphorylnitrene formation from the photoexcited phosphoryl azide. (i) Energy transfer from the (π,π*) singlet excited state, localized on a phenyl ring, to the azide moiety, thereby leading to the formation of the singlet excited azide, which subsequently loses molecular nitrogen to form the singlet diphenylphosphorylnitrene. (ii) Direct irradiation of the azide moiety to form an excited singlet state of the azide, which in turn loses molecular nitrogen to form the singlet diphenylphosphorylnitrene. Two transient species were observed upon ultrafast photolysis (260 nm) of diphenylphosphoryl azide. The first transient absorption, centered at 430 nm (lifetime (τ) ～ 28 ps), was assigned to a (π,π*) singlet S(1) excited state localized on a phenyl ring, and the second transient observed at 525 nm (τ ～ 480 ps) was assigned to singlet diphenylphosphorylnitrene. Experimental and computational results obtained from the study of diphenyl phosphoramidate, along with the results obtained with diphenylphosphoryl azide, supported the mechanism of energy transfer from the singlet excited phenyl ring to the azide moiety, followed by nitrogen extrusion to form the singlet phosphorylnitrene. Ultrafast time-resolved studies performed on diphenylphosphoryl azide with the singlet nitrene quencher, tris(trimethylsilyl)silane, confirmed the spectroscopic assignment of singlet diphenylphosphorylnitrene to the 525 nm absorption band.     

Early events in the photochemistry of aryl azides from femtosecond UV/Vis spectroscopy and quantum chemical calculations

The photochemistry of para- and ortho-biphenylyl azides and 1-naphthyl azide was studied by ultrafast spectroscopy. In every case, the singlet azide second excited states were observed by transient absorption spectroscopy and were found to have lifetimes of hundreds of femtoseconds. The decay of the S(2) states of the azides was accompanied by the growth of transient absorption of the corresponding singlet nitrenes. The intermediate S(1) state of the azides could not be observed due to its low instantaneous concentration resulting from fast fragmentation and nitrene formation. Quantum chemical calculations predict that the S(2) state of the azide is bound and that there is a much lower barrier toward arylnitrene formation from the S(1) state of the azide. Vibrational cooling of para-biphenylnitrene (11 ps) was experimentally observed. The lifetime of singlet ortho-biphenylnitrene was 16 ps in acetonitrile and was not affected by perdeuteration of the aryl ring. The lifetime of singlet 1-naphthylnitrene is 12 ps in acetonitrile at ambient temperature.     

Photolysis of alpha-azidoacetophenones: direct detection of triplet alkyl nitrenes in solution

We report the first detection of triplet alkyl nitrenes in fluid solution by laser flash photolysis of alpha-azido acetophenone derivatives, 1. Alphazides 1 contain an intramolecular triplet sensitizer, which ensures formation of the triplet alkyl nitrene by bypassing the singlet nitrene intermediate. At room temperature, azides 1 cleave to form benzoyl and methyl azide radicals in competition with triplet energy transfer to form triplet alkyl nitrene. The major photoproduct 3 arises from interception of the triplet alkyl nitrene with benzoyl radicals. The triplet alkyl nitrene intermediates are also trapped with molecular oxygen to yield the corresponding 2-nitrophenylethanone. Laser flash photolysis of 1 reveals that the triplet alkyl nitrenes have absorption around 300 nm. The triplet alkyl nitrenes were further characterized by obtaining their UV and IR spectra in argon matrices. (13)C and (15)N isotope labeling studies allowed us to characterize the C-N stretch of the nitrene intermediate at 1201 cm(-)(1).     

The direct detection of an aryl azide excited state: an ultrafast study of the photochemistry of para- and ortho-biphenyl azide

Ultrafast laser flash photolysis (266 nm) of para- and ortho-biphenyl azide in acetonitrile produces azide excited states that have broad absorption bands centered at 480 nm. The para-biphenyl azide excited singlet state has a lifetime of 100 fs. The excited-state lifetime of the ortho-azide isomer is 450 +/- 150 fs. Decay of the azide excited states is accompanied by the formation of the corresponding known singlet nitrenes (para, lambdamax = 350 nm, ortho, lambdamax = 400 nm). Singlet para-biphenylnitrene is born with excess energy and undergoes vibrational cooling with a time constant of 11 ps to form the long-lived (tau approximately 9 ns) relaxed singlet nitrene. Singlet ortho-biphenylnitrene decays with a lifetime of 16 ps in acetonitrile at ambient temperature.     

Ultrafast study of 9-diazofluorene: direct observation of the first two singlet states of fluorenylidene

Ultrafast photolysis of 9-diazofluorene (DAF) produces a broadly absorbing transient within the instrument time resolution (300 fs), which is assigned to an excited state of the diazo compound. The diazo excited state fragments to form fluorenylidene (Fl) in both its lowest energy singlet state (1Fl, 405-430 nm, depending on the solvent) and a higher energy singlet state (370 nm, 1Fl*). The excited singlet carbene has a lifetime of 20.9 ps in acetonitrile and decays to the lower energy singlet state (1Fl), which relaxes to the triplet ground state (3Fl) in acetonitrile, cyclohexane, benzene, and hexafluorobenzene. The equilibrium mixture of singlet and triplet fluorenylidene reacts with these solvents. Singlet fluorenylidene reacts with methanol and cyclohexene in competition with relaxation to 3Fl. One of the reaction products in methanol is the 9-fluorenyl cation. The rate of intersystem crossing (ISC) in hexafluorobenzene and other halogenated solvents is remarkably slow given that carbene ISC rates are generally fastest in nonpolar solvents. An explanation of this effect is advanced.     

Triplet-state formation along the ultrafast decay of excited singlet cytosine

We address the possibility of populating the lowest triplet state of cytosine by an "intrinsic"mechanism, namely, intersystem crossing (ISC) along the ultrafast internal conversion pathway of the electronically excited singlet species. For this purpose, we present a discussion of the ISC process and triplet-state reactivity based on theoretical analysis of the spin-orbit strength and the potential energy surfaces for the relevant singlet and triplet states of cytosine. High-level ab initio computations show that ISC is possible in wide regions of the singlet manifold along the reaction coordinate that controls the ultrafast internal conversion to the ground state. Thus, the ISC mechanism documented here provides a possibility to access the triplet state, which has a key role in the photochemistry of the nucleic acid bases.     

The photochemistry of 4-azidopyridine-1-oxide

Laser flash photolysis of 4-azidopyridine-1-oxide at 266 or 308 nm yields triplet 4-nitrenopyridine-1-oxide as the dominant reactive intermediate species, with k(ISC) of approximately 2 x 10(7) s(-1). No evidence of products arising from the singlet nitrene was observed, indicating a slow rate of cyclization to the benzazirine and didehydroazepine species. The slow rate of cyclization is postulated to be due to the aminoxyl-like electronic configuration of this species, which withdraws spin density from sites for potential cyclization.     

The rearrangements of naphthylnitrenes: UV/Vis and IR spectra of azirines, cyclic ketenimines, and cyclic nitrile ylides

Ar matrix photolysis of 1- and 2-naphthyl azides 3 and 4 at 313 nm initially affords the singlet naphthyl nitrenes, (1)()1 and (1)()2. Relaxation to the corresponding lower energy, persistent triplet nitrenes (3)()1 and (3)()2 competes with cyclization to the azirines 15 and 18, which can also be formed photochemically from the triplet nitrenes. On prolonged irradiation, the azirines can be converted to the seven-membered cyclic ketenimines 10 and 13, respectively, as described earlier by Dunkin and Thomson. However, instead of the o-quinoid ketenimines 16 and 19, which are the expected primary ring-opening products of azirines 15 and 18, respectively, we observed their novel bond-shift isomers 17 and 20, which may be formally regarded as cyclic nitrile ylides. The existence of such ylidic heterocumulenes has been predicted previously, but this work provides the first experimental observation of such species. The factors which are responsible for the special stability of the ylidic species 17 and 20 are discussed.     

Reaction of the 4-biphenylnitrenium ion with 4-biphenyl azide to produce a 4,4'-azobisbiphenyl stable product: a time-resolved resonance Raman and density functional theory study

A time-resolved resonance Raman (TR(3)) and density functional theory (DFT) study of the reaction of the 4-biphenylnitrenium ion with 4-biphenyl azide in a mixed aqueous solution is reported. The reaction of the 4-biphenylnitrenium ion with its unphotolyzed precursor 4-biphenyl azide in a mixed aqueous solution generates a 4,4'-azobisbiphenyl stable product via an intermediate species. With the aid of DFT calculations for likely transient species, this intermediate was tentatively assigned to a 4,4'-azobisbiphenyl cation. The DFT calculations predict this reaction can take place via two pathways that compete with one another to produce the trans and cis 4,4'-azobisbiphenyl product. The observation of the 4,4'-azobisbiphenyl cation intermediate demonstrates that the reaction of the arylnitrenium ion with its aryl azide to produce a stable azo product occurs via a stepwise mechanism.     

Competition between alpha-cleavage and energy transfer in alpha-azidoacetophenones

Molecular modeling demonstrates that the first excited state of the triplet ketone (T1K) in azide 1b has a (pi,pi*) configuration with an energy that is 66 kcal/mol above its ground state and its second excited state (T2K) is 10 kcal/mol higher in energy and has a (n,pi*) configuration. In comparison, T1K and T2K of azide 1a are almost degenerate at 74 and 77 kcal/mol above the ground state with a (n,pi*) and (pi,pi*) configuration, respectively. Laser flash photolysis (308 nm) of azide 1b in methanol yields a transient absorption (lambdamax=450 nm) due to formation of T1K, which decays with a rate of 2.1 x 105 s-1 to form triplet alkylnitrene 2b (lambdamax=320 nm). The lifetime of nitrene 2b was measured to be 16 ms. In contrast, laser flash photolysis (308 nm) of azide 1a produced transient absorption spectra due to formation of nitrene 2a (lambdamax=320 nm) and benzoyl radical 3a (lambdamax=370 nm). The decay of 3a is 2 x 105 s-1 in methanol, whereas nitrene 2a decays with a rate of approximately 91 s-1. Thus, T1K (pi,pi*) in azide 1b leads to energy transfer to form nitrene 2b; however, alpha-cleavage is not observed since the energy of T2K (n,pi*) is 10 kcal/mol higher in energy than T1K, and therefore, T2K is not populated. In azide 1a both alpha-cleavage and energy transfer are observed from T1K (n,pi*) and T2K (pi,pi*), respectively, since these triplet states are almost degenerate. Photolysis of azide 1a yields mainly product 4, which must arise from recombination of benzoyl radicals 3a with nitrenes 2a. However, products studies for azide 1b also yield 4b as the major product, even though laser flash photolysis of azide 1b does not indicate formation of benzoyl radical 3b. Thus, we hypothesize that benzoyl radicals 3 can also be formed from nitrenes 2. More specifically, nitrene 2 does undergo alpha-photocleavage to form benzoyl radicals and iminyl radicals. The secondary photolysis of nitrenes 2 is further supported with molecular modeling and product studies.     

Photolysis of ortho-Azidobenzoic Acid in Solutions and a Solid State

The photolysis of o-azidobenzoic acid in solutions, adsorbed on silica gel, and in a crystalline state was studied by IR and UV spectroscopy and thin-layer chromatography. It was found that the photolysis resulted in the formation of 2,1-benzisoxazolone (the product of intramolecular cyclization of singlet nitrenes) and anthranilic acid and o,o"-dicarboxyazobenzene (the reaction products of triplet nitrenes). The formation of 2,1-benzisoxazolone is a reversible reaction because of the secondary photolysis to singlet nitrenes, which leads to an increase in their concentration in the system.     

Carbenes and Nitrenes: Recent Developments in Fundamental Chemistry

Carbenes and nitrenes can exist in both singlet and triplet states, sometimes equally stable and interconverting either thermally or photochemically. Many carbene and nitrene reactions proceed via tunneling at low temperatures. Numerous singlet and triplet states have been characterized spectroscopically, and a detailed understanding of the chemical and physical properties of carbenes and nitrenes is emerging. There has been significant progress in the direct observation of carbenes, nitrenes, and many other reactive intermediates in recent years through the application of matrix photolysis and flash vacuum pyrolysis linked with matrix isolation at cryogenic temperatures. Our understanding of singlet and triplet states has improved through the interplay of spectroscopy and computations. Bistable carbenes and nitrenes as well as many examples of tunneling have been discovered and numerous rearrangements and fragmentations have been documented. The correlation of the zero‐field splitting parameter D with calculated spin densities on nitrenes and carbenes is discussed. This Minireview gives an overview of some of these developments.     

The temperature dependent photochemistry of phenyl azide in diethylamine

The photochemistry of phenylazide in diethylamine changes from products consistent with electrophilic singlet intermediates to products consistent with triplet nitrenes as the temperature is lowered from 273 to 77k.     

A laser flash photolysis and quantum chemical study of the fluorinated derivatives of singlet phenylnitrene.

Laser flash photolysis (LFP, Nd:YAG laser, 35 ps, 266 nm, 10 mJ or KrF excimer laser, 10 ns, 249 nm, 50 mJ) of 2-fluoro, 4-fluoro, 3,5-difluoro, 2,6-difluoro, and 2,3,4,5,6-pentafluorophenyl azides produces the corresponding singlet nitrenes. The singlet nitrenes were detected by transient absorption spectroscopy, and their spectra are characterized by sharp absorption bands with maxima in the range of 300-365 nm. The kinetics of their decay were analyzed as a function of temperature to yield observed decay rate constants, k(OBS). The observed rate constant in inert solvents is the sum of k(R) + k(ISC) where k(R) is the absolute rate constant of rearrangement of singlet nitrene to an azirine and k(ISC) is the absolute rate constant of nitrene intersystem crossing (ISC). Values of k(R) and k(ISC) were deduced after assuming that k(ISC) is independent of temperature. Barriers to cyclization of 4-fluoro-, 3,5-difluoro-, 2-fluoro-, 2,6-difluoro-, and 2,3,4,5,6-pentafluorophenylnitrene in inert solvents are 5.3 +/- 0.3, 5.5 +/- 0.3, 6.7 +/- 0.3, 8.0 +/- 1.5, and 8.8 +/- 0.4 kcal/mol, respectively. The barrier to cyclization of parent singlet phenylnitrene is 5.6 +/- 0.3 kcal/mol. All of these values are in good quantitative agreement with CASPT2 calculations of the relative barrier heights for the conversion of fluoro-substituted singlet aryl nitrenes to benzazirines (Karney, W. L. and Borden, W. T. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1997, 119, 3347). A single ortho-fluorine substituent exerts a small but significant bystander effect on remote cyclization that is not steric in origin. The influence of two ortho-fluorine substituents on the cyclization is pronounced. In the case of the singlet 2-fluorophenylnitrene system, evidence is presented that the benzazirine is an intermediate and that the corresponding singlet nitrene and benzazirine interconvert. Ab initio calculations at different levels of theory on a series of benzazirines, their isomeric ketenimines, and the transition states converting the benzazirines to ketenimines were performed. The computational results are in good qualitative and quantitative agreement with the experimental findings.     

Understanding the rate of spin-forbidden thermolysis of HN3 and CH3N3

The pyrolysis of the simplest azides HN(3) and CH(3)N(3) has been studied computationally. Nitrogen extrusion leads to the production of NH or CH(3)N. The azides have singlet ground states but the nitrenes CH(3)N and NH have triplet ground states. The competition between spin-allowed decomposition to the excited state singlet nitrenes and the spin-forbidden N(2) loss is explored using accurate electronic structure methods (CASSCF/cc-pVTZ and MR-AQCC/cc-pVTZ) as well as statistical rate theories. Nonadiabatic rate theories are used for the dissociation leading to the triplet nitrenes. For HN(3), (3)NH formation is predicted to dominate at low energy, and the calculated rate constant agrees very well with energy-resolved experimental measurements. Under thermal conditions, however, the singlet and triplet pathways are predicted to occur competitively, with the spin-allowed product increasingly favored at higher temperatures. For CH(3)N(3) thermolysis, spin-allowed dissociation to form (1)CH(3)N should largely dominate at all temperatures, with spin-forbidden formation of (3)CH(3)N almost negligible. Singlet methyl nitrene is very unstable and should rearrange to CH(2)NH immediately upon formation, and the latter species may lose H(2) competitively with vibrational cooling, depending on temperature and pressure.     

EPR SPECTROSCOPY OF ETHIDIUM NITRENE AND PROFLAVINE NITRENE COORDINATED TO SELF-COMPLEMENTARY DINUCLEOTIDE MINI-DUPLEXES

Abstract— Photolysis of ethidium azide ( lb ) and proflavine azide ( 2b ) immobilized in glassy media at 77 K produces triplet EPR spectra of the corresponding triplet nitrenes lc and 2c . The resonance field positions of the nitrenes are shifted by the presence of self-complementary dinucleotides. Control experiments indicated that the interaction of lc and 2c with C_PG mini-duplexes is consistent with intercalation.