Photoinduced intramolecular cyclopentanation vs photoprotolytic oxametathesis in polycyclic alkenes outfitted with conformationally constrained aroylmethyl chromophores.

Intramolecular photoinduced cyclizations are investigated in photoprecursors assembled in a modular fashion via a Diels-Alder reaction of acetylenic dienophiles with subsequent Michael additions of aromatic ketones to install a chromophore capable of initiating Paternò-Büchi cycloadditions or radical cyclization cascades. The protolytic oxametathesis in these systems allows for rapid access to novel polycyclic scaffolds decorated by formyl groups and carboxylates suitable for subsequent modifications. In conformationally constrained photoprecursors, a radical rearrangement takes place resulting in intramolecular 1,3-diradical cyclopentanation of the double bond.

Double-tandem [4π+2π]·[2π+2π]·[4π+2π]·[2π+2π] synthetic sequence with photoprotolytic oxametathesis and photoepoxidation in the chromone series.

Chromones are introduced into a double-tandem [4(π)+2(π)]·[2(π)+2(π)]·[4(π)+2(π)]·[2(π)+2(π)] synthetic sequence, culminating in photoprotolytic oxametathesis, which leads to an expeditious growth of molecular complexity over a few experimentally simple steps. The overall reaction can potentially be utilized in diversity-oriented synthesis, as it allows for three or more diversity inputs furnishing novel unique polycyclic scaffolds decorated with a variety of functionalities and aromatic/heterocyclic pendants. The polycyclic alkenes, resulting from the oxametathesis step, were found to undergo efficient and clean photoinduced epoxidation when irradiated in the presence of molecular oxygen.

Strained to the limit: when a cyclobutyl moiety becomes a thermodynamic sink in a protolytic ring-opening of photogenerated oxetanes.

Strained polycyclic oxetanes generated photochemically from the Diels-Alder adducts of cyclic dienes and enones undergo deep skeletal rearrangements under protolytic ring-opening conditions offering expeditious access to chlorohydrins and other products of unique skeletal topology.