Switch the click: Ultrafast photochemistry of photoDIBO-OH tracked by time-resolved IR spectroscopy.

Click chemistry refers to selective reactions developed for grafting of bio(macro)molecules in their biological media. Caged click compounds have been employed to spatiotemporally control click reactions. Here, we survey the uncaging of photo-dibenzocyclooctyne-OH (photoDIBO-OH) to its click-chemistry active form DIBO-OH, with particular attention to its conversion timescale and efficiency. Ultraviolet pump-infrared probe experiments reveal a stepwise decarbonylation: first, carbon monoxide (C≡O) is released within 1.8 ps, and then, it converts, within 10 ps, to DIBO-OH. Completion of uncaging is achieved with an efficiency of ∼50%. A successful demonstration of two-photon uncaging of photoDIBO-OH at long wavelength (700 nm) confers enhanced in vivo compatibility and proceeds on the same timescale.

The 2-oxocyclobutanecarboxylic acid keto-enol system in aqueous solution: a remarkable acid-strengthening effect of the cyclobutane ring.

Flash photolysis of 2-diazocyclopentane-1,3-dione in aqueous solution produced 2-oxocyclobutylideneketene, which underwent hydration to the enol of 2-oxocyclobutanecarboxylic acid; the enol then isomerized to the keto form of this acid. Rates of the ketene and enol reactions were measured in acid, base, and buffer solutions across the acidity range [H+] = 10(-1)-10(-13) M, and analysis of these data, together with rates of enolization of the keto form of 2-oxocyclobutanecarboxylic acid determined by bromine scavenging, gave keto-enol equilibrium constants as well as acidity constants of the keto and enol forms. The keto-enol equilibrum constants proved to be 2 orders of magnitude less than those reported previously for the next higher homolog, 2-oxocyclopentanecarboxylic acid, reflecting the difficulty of inserting a carbon-carbon double bond into a small, strained carbocyclic ring. The acidity constant of the enol group of 2-oxocyclobutanecarboxylate ion, on the other hand, is greater, by 4 orders of magnitude, than that of the corresponding enol in the cyclopentyl system. This remarkable increase in acidity with diminishing ring size is consistent with the enhanced s character of the orbitals used to make the exocyclic bonds of the smaller cyclobutane ring.

The 2-oxocyclohexanecarboxylic acid keto-enol system in aqueous solution.

Flash photolysis of 2-diazocycloheptane-1,3-dione or 2,2-dimethyl-5,6,7,8-tetrahydrobenzo-4H-1,3-dioxin-4-one in aqueous solution produced 2-oxocyclohexylideneketene, which underwent hydration to the enol of 2-oxocyclohexanecarboxylic acid, and the enol then isomerized to the keto form of the acid. Isomerization of the enol to keto forms was also observed using solid enol, a substance heretofore commonly believed to be the keto acid. Rates of ketonization were measured in perchloric acid, sodium hydroxide, and buffer solutions, and a ketonization rate profile was constructed. Rates of enolization of the keto acid were also measured using bromine to scavenge the enol as it formed. Rates of enolization and ketonization were then combined to provide the keto-enol equilibrium constant pK(E) = 1.27. This and some of the other results obtained are different from the corresponding quantities for the 2-oxocyclopentanecarboxylic acid keto-enol system. These differences are discussed.

Photochemical ring opening of 7-benzoyl- and 7-methoxycarbonyldibenzonorcaradienes. competing 1,2-hydrogen shift and cyclization reactions of 1,3-diradicals.

[see reaction]. The UV irradiation of dibenzonorcaradienes bearing an acyl or alkoxycarbonyl substituent in the 7-position results in formation of substituted phenanthrenes, as well as cis-trans isomerization of the starting material. This reaction apparently proceeds via intermediate formation of a short-lived (tau = 1-20 ns) 1,3-diradical, which is produced by photochemical cleavage of one cyclopropane bond, while no evidence of alpha-carbonylcarbene formation was found.