Zur Photochemie von 3,5-Diaryl-2-isoxazolinen. 30. Mitteilung über Photoreaktionen

Irradiation of 3,5-diphenyl- or 3-(p-tolyl)-5-phenyl-2-isoxazoline ( 12 and 13 , respectively) in benzene with a high-pressure mercury lamp yields 4,5-diphenyl- or 4-(p-tolyl)-5-phenyl-3-oxazoline ( 17 and 19 , respectively) and the β-amino-chalcones 18 or 20 in addition to benzaldehyde, benzonitrile and p-tolunitrile, respectively (scheme 6 and ‘Anmerkg.’ p. 2600). The 3-oxazolines 17 and 19 are formed by route a (scheme 8) via 3-phenyl- or 3-(p-tolyl)-2H-azirine ( 23 , R = H and CH₃, respectively) and their photochemically rearranged successors, the nitrile methylides 24 , as intermediates. The discovery of this reaction has served as a basis for the quickly developing photochemistry of 3-aryl-2H-azirines 2] 24]. Photolysis of the 2-isoxazoline 13 in methanol leads to the formation of a mixture of syn/anti-p-tolyl trans-styryl ketoximes (syn/anti, trans- 30 ) and anti, cis- 30 , 2-(p-tolyl)-quinoline ( 29 ), the 4-hydroxymethylated derivative 32 of the latter (in small amounts), besides the β-aminochalcone 20 , benzaldehyde, p-tolualdehyde and p-tolunitrile (scheme 9). It could be shown that the stereoisomeric ketoximes 30 are photochemically interconvertible (scheme 12) and that at least one mechanism of formation of 2-(p-tolyl)-quinoline ( 29 ) is the photo-induced cyclisation of p-tolyl-cis-styryl ketoximes (cis- 30 ) (scheme 13). A tentative mechanism for the formation of p-tolual-dehyde is given in scheme 10; the crucial step is the protonation of p-tolunitrile methylide ( 24 , R = CH₃) by methanol at the nitrile carbon atom, after which hydrolysis yields the aldehyde.