Kinetic study of bleaching of photoinduced forms of o-methylnitrobenzothiazoles

Photochromic properties of benzothiazole derivatives containing nitro and methyl groups in the ortho positions with respect to each other were studied by flash photolysis. The rate constant of bleaching of the corresponding photoinduced nitronic acids and their anions increases as the CH₃C-CNO₂ bond becomes longer. The application of the thermodynamic approach to predict the kinetic stability of nitronic acids is limited owing to specific intramolecular interactions. The lifetime of photoinduced nitronic acid anions tends to increase with rise in the chemical shift of the methyl protons.