| Abstract: | Entirely different product distributions were observed when the bisdiazo compound 1 was irradiated by a conventional lamp (254 nm) on the one hand and by a pulsed excimer laser (248 nm) on the other. Continuous photolysis gave a complex reaction mixture (Scheme 2), of which eight products were identified. Pulsed laser photolysis gave (11E)-dibenzocyclooctatriene 20 as a new product in 49% yield (Scheme 4). We postulate that compound 20 is formed via the biscarbene intermediate 18 which results from the sequential absorption of two photons by a single molecule within a single laser pulse. |
