Modulation of Spectrokinetic Properties of o‐Quinonoid Reactive Intermediates by Electronic Factors: Time‐Resolved Laser Flash and Steady‐State Photolysis Investigations of Photochromic 6‐ and 7‐Arylchromenes
1. Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur 208 016 (India), Fax: (+91)?512‐2597436;2. School of Engineering and Science, Campus Ring 1, Jacobs University Bremen, 28759 Bremen (Germany), Fax: (+49)?421200?3229
Abstract:
A variety of differently substituted 6‐ and 7‐arylchromenes such as that depicted undergo photoinduced C? O bond cleavage to yield colored o‐quinonoid intermediates. A combined analysis of μs–ms (laser flash) and real‐time kinetic data show that the o‐quinonoid intermediates decay faster when the C2‐aryl and C6‐/C7‐aryl rings contain electron‐donating and electron‐accepting groups, respectively. Similarly, the decay occurs slowly for the reversed scenario, while intermediate decay rates are observed when both substituents are electron donating.