THE CHLOROPHYLL-SENSITIZED REACTION BETWEEN BENZOQUINONE AND ETHANOL*

The electron-transfer reaction between triplet excited chlorophyll and quinones has been extensively studied as a model of the primary reaction in photosystem II. There has also been reported a minor reaction in which the chlorophyll cation radical ostensibly oxidizes the alcohol solvent or even water, leading to a gradual net reduction of quinone, but the exact mechanism and even the existence of this reaction has been uncertain. We have examined the consequences of prolonged irradation of ethyl chlorophyllide and benzoquinone in acidulated ethanol, and find a chlorophyllide-sensitized reaction which is not analogous to the better-known autosensitized reduction of quinones in blue or UV light. In the chlorophyllide-sensitized reaction, benzoquinone is apparently converted to ethoxy-substituted quinones and quinols, and polymeric material. Ethyl chlorophyllide (or chlorophyll) is simultaneously oxidized to more polar products which themselves continue to photosensitize the reaction of quinones. The production of acetaldehyde could not be demonstrated in the sensitized reaction. Chlorophyllide-sensitized reaction of (l-hydroxyethyl)benzoquinone, ethoxybenzoquinone and 2.5-diethoxybenzo-quinone were examined for additional information. A reaction sequence, tentatively proposed to accommodate the known facts, starts with oxidative attack by quinone on an oxidized chlorophyllide radical formed by loss of a hydroxyl proton from alcohol bound as a ligand to Mg²⁺. It is not likely that this reaction is closely related to events at the oxidizing side of photosystem II.     

Insertion of CO2, CS2, and COS into iron(II)-hydride bonds

The reactions between cis-Fe(dmpe)2H2 (dmpe = Me2PCH2CH2PMe2) (1) or cis-Fe(PP3)H2 (PP3 = P(CH2CH2PMe2)3) (2) and carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon disulfide (CS2), and carbonyl sulfide (COS) are investigated. At 300 K, additions of CO2 (1 atm), CS2 (2 equiv), and COS (1 atm) to 1 result in the formation of a stable transformato hydride, trans-Fe(dmpe)2(OCHO)H (3a), a trans-dithioformato hydride, trans-Fe(dmpe)2(SCHS)H (4a), and a trans-thioformato hydride, trans-Fe(dmpe)2(SCHO)H (5a), respectively. When CS2 and COS are added to cis-Fe(dmpe)2H2 at 195 K, a cis-dithioformato hydride, 4b, and a cis-thioformato hydride, 5b, respectively, are observed as the initially formed products, but there is no evidence of the corresponding cis-formato hydride upon addition of CO2 to cis-Fe(dmpe)2H2. Additions of excess CO2, CS2, and COS to 1 at lower temperatures (195-240 K) result in the formation of a trans-bis(formate), trans-Fe(dmpe)2(OCHO)2 (3b), a trans-bis(dithioformate), trans-Fe(dmpe)2(SCHS)2 (4c), and a cis-bis(thioformate), cis-Fe(dmpe)2(SCHO)2 (5c), respectively. trans-Fe(dmpe)2(SCHO)2 (5d) is prepared by the addition of excess COS at 300 K. Additions of CO2 (1 atm), CS2 (0.75 equiv), and COS (1 atm) to 2 at 300 K result in the formation of a thermally stable, geometrically constrained cis-formato hydride, cis-Fe(PP3)(OCHO)H (6a), a cis-dithioformato hydride, cis-Fe(PP3)(SCHS)H (7a), and a cis-thioformato hydride, cis-Fe(PP3)(SCHO)H (8a), respectively. Additions of excess CO2 and COS to 2 yield a cis-bis(formate), cis-Fe(PP3)(OCHO)2 (6b), and a thermally stable cis-bis(thioformate), cis-Fe(PP3)(SCHO)2 (8b), respectively. All complexes are characterized by multinuclear NMR spectroscopy, with IR spectroscopy and elemental analyses confirming structures of thermally stable complexes where possible. Complexes 3b and 5a are also characterized by X-ray crystallography.     

Wavelength-dependent photochemistry in Cr(CNPh)6: a study of photosubstitution and photoinduced electron transfer using time-resolved spectroscopy

The wavelength dependence of photosubstitution, photoinduced electron transfer, and the time-resolved spectra of Cr(CNPh)6, a compound having low-lying MLCT states, were investigated. Photosubstitution quantum yields increase with increasing excitation energy while photoinduced electron transfer quantum yields decrease with increasing excitation energy. At the lowest excitation energy used (532 nm, or 18,800 cm(-1)), the quantum yields for both electron transfer and photosubstitution reach the same maximum value, 0.29. Picosecond time-resolved absorption spectra at 355 and 532 nm excitation wavelengths show two features: a bleach signal centered at 400 nm and an excited state absorption (ESA) in the 600 nm region. The ESA signal is much weaker for 532 nm excitations than for 355 nm excitations. Following a 355 nm flash, the bleach and ESA decay exponentially with the same lifetime of 23 micros. This implies a simple ligand dissociation followed by recombination. Bleach recovery kinetics after a 532 nm flash are more complicated: two or three exponential components are required to fit the data. Cr(CNPh)6 exhibits two photochemical mechanisms: at high excitation energy, a simple charge neutral dissociation occurs; at low energy, it is proposed that a phenylisocyanide radical anion dissociates, forming a radical pair that is responsible for the observed substitution and electron transfer reactivity, and the complicated nanosecond kinetics. The primary processes for both reactions occur in less than 20 ps.     

Transition metalcarbon bonds XXXVII. platinum acetylide complexes formed from ethynyl alcohols or ethers

Several new platinum(II) acetylide complexes, trans-{Pt[CCCR₁R₂(OR₃)]₂-L₂} (R₁, R₂  H, Me, Et; CR₁R₂  cyclohexylidene; R₃  H, Me or Ph), trans-[Pt(CCCH₂CH₂OH)₂L₂], trans-[Pt(p-tolylacetylide)₂L₂] and trans-[PtX(p-tolylacetylide)L₂] (L  PMe₂Ph or in one case, AsMe₂Ph) have been prepared. Platinum(II) acetylide complexes with tertiary hydroxyl groups are easily dehydrated by acetic anhydride/pyridine to give platinum-enyne complexes. Analogous compounds with primary hydroxyl groups do not dehydrate but give acetates. ¹H and ¹³C NMR data are given and the shift reagent Eu(fod)₃ was used to analyse the ¹H NMR spectrum of trans-[Pt(CCCH₂CH₂OH)₂(PMe₂Ph)₂].     

Plutonium concentration distribution in bed load sediment samples along the Romanian sector of the Danube river and the Black Sea coast

The concentrations of²³⁸Pu and^{239, 240}Pu were determined in 12 sediment samples collected from the bed of the Romanian Danube river and Black Sea coast during June–September 1994. After the sample material has been properly prepared and²⁴²Pu tracer added, plutonium was separated from americium and curium by anion exchange. After electrodeposition on stainless steel discs the elements were counted with an -spectrometry system with silicon surface-barrier detectors. The^{239, 240}Pu concentrations range between 150 and 800 mBq kg^–1 dry, while the²³⁸Pu concentrations rise up to max 150 mBq kg^–1 dry. Although the chemical yields are rather low (51%) we appreciate the results as valuable since they report for the first time the distribution of the plutonium contamination along the Danube river and the Black Sea coast-Romanian sector.     

Diastereoselective nucleophilic substitution reactions of oxasilacyclopentane acetals: application of the "inside attack" model for reactions of five-membered ring oxocarbenium ions

The additions of nucleophiles to oxocarbenium ions derived from oxasilacyclopentane acetates proceeded with high diastereoselectivity in most cases. Sterically demanding nucleophiles such as the silyl enol ether of diethyl ketone add to the face opposite the C-2 substituent. These reactions establish the syn stereochemistry about the newly formed carbon-carbon bond. Small nucleophiles such as allyltrimethylsilane do not show this same stereochemical preference: they add from the same face as the substituent in C-2-substituted oxocarbenium ions. The stereoselectivities exhibited by both small and large nucleophiles can be understood by application of the "inside attack" model for five-membered ring oxocarbenium ions developed previously for tetrahydrofuran-derived cations. This stereoelectronic model requires attack of the nucleophile from the face of the cation that provides the products in their lower energy staggered conformations. Small nucleophiles add to the "inside" of the lower energy ground-state conformer of the oxocarbenium ion. In contrast, sterically demanding nucleophiles add to the inside of the envelope conformer where approach is anti to the C-2 substituent of the oxocarbenium ion, regardless of the ground-state conformer population.