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Photosensitised biphotonic irradiation of DNA has been rarely addressed, probably due to the difficulties in the experimental design. This is associated with the selection of nucleobases and sensitisers with appropriate absorption spectra and photochemical reactivity, in combination with a laser source emitting intense UVA light of the adequate wavelength. The present paper presents a new strategy involving absorption of a first UVA photon by an adequate sensitiser followed by triplet energy transfer to a pyrimidine (Pyr) derivative and absorption of a second UVA photon by the resulting Pyr triplet excited state. The feasibility of the proposed strategy has been demonstrated using two model reactions: (i) the Norrish-Yang photocyclisation of a tert-butyluracil and (ii) the photohydration of its uracil analogue, lacking the tert-butyl substituent., Financial support by the Spanish Government (O. R-A. for FPU14/05294) and Generalitat Valenciana (PROMETEO/2017/075) is gratefully acknowledged. We also thank Dr Lhiaubet-Vallet for her help with the UPLC-MS/MS experiments.

[EN] Nucleic acids are constantly exposed to external agents that can induce chemical and photochemical damage. In spite of the great advances achieved in the last years, some molecular mechanisms of DNA damage are not completely understood yet. A recent experimental report (I. Aparici-Espert et al., ACS Chem. Biol. 2018, 13, 542) proved the ability of 5-formyluracil (ForU), a common oxidatively generated product of thymine, to act as an intrinsic sensitizer of nucleic acids, causing single strand breaks and cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers in plasmid DNA. In the present contribution, we use theoretical methodologies to study the triplet photosensitization mechanism of thymine exerted by ForU in a model dimer and in DNA environment. The photochemical pathways in the former system are described combining the CASPT2 and TD-DFT methods, whereas molecular dynamics simulations and QM/MM calculations are employed for the DNA duplex. It is unambiguously shown that the (1)n,* state localised in ForU mediates the population of the triplet manifold, most likely the (3),* state centred in ForU, whereas the (3),* state localized in thymine can be populated via triplet-triplet energy transfer given the small energy barrier of, A. F. M. is grateful to Région Grand Est government (France) for the financial support. Spanish government (CTQ2015-70164P and CTQ2017-87054-C2-2-P projects) and Regional government (Prometeo/2017/075) are also acknowledged.

[EN] A photoactive bathymeter based on a carboxylic acid moiety covalently linked to a signalling methoxynaphthalene (MNP) fluorophore has been designed to prove the concept of "snorkelling" vs. "diving" in mixed micelles (MM). The carboxylic acid "floats" on the MM surface, while the MNP unit sinks deep in MM. The rate constants of MNP fluorescence quenching by iodide, which remains basically in water, consistently decrease with increasing spacer length, revealing different regions. This is associated with the distance MNP should "dive" in MM to achieve protection from aqueous reactants. Unequivocal proof of the exergonic photoinduced electron transfer was obtained from the UV-visible spectral signature of I-3(-) upon steady-state photolysis. The applicability of the bathymeter was examined upon testing a family of MNP derivatives. The obtained results were validated by comparison with different lipophilicity tests: (i) a modified version of the K-ow partition coefficient and (ii) the retention factor on thin layer chromatography. This concept could potentially be extended to test drugs or pharmacophores exhibiting any photoactive moiety., Financial support from the Spanish Government (SEV-2016-0683), Red RETICS de Investigacion de Reacciones Adversas a Alergenos y Farmacos (RIRAAF), Instituto de Salud Carlos III (RD012/0013, RD16/0006/0030, FIS PI16/01877), VLC-Campus and the Generalitat Valenciana (Prometeo Program) is gratefully acknowledged.

[EN] Through-bond triplet exciplex formation in donor-acceptor systems linked through a rigid bile acid scaffold has been demonstrated on the basis of kinetic evidence upon population of the triplet acceptors (naphthalene, or biphenyl) by through-bond triplet-triplet energy transfer from benzophenone., Financial support from the Spanish Government (Grants SEV-2012-0267, CTQ2012-38754-C03-03, CTQ2013-47872-C2-1-P and JCI-2011-09926), EU (PCIG12GA-2012-334257), Generalitat Valenciana (Prometeo Program), and Technical University of Valencia (VLC/Campus, ASIC-UPV for computational facilities and Predoctoral FPI fellowship for P. Miro) is gratefully acknowledged.

he influence of non-covalent σ–π orbital interactions on triplet–triplet energy transfer (TTET) through tuning of the donor excitation energy remains basically unexplored. In the present work, we have investigated intermolecular TTET using donor moieties covalently linked to a rigid cholesterol (Ch) scaffold. For this purpose, diaryl ketones of π,π* electronic configuration tethered to α- or β-Ch were prepared from tiaprofenic acid (TPA) and suprofen (SUP). The obtained systems TPA-α-Ch, TPA-β-Ch, SUP-α-Ch and SUP-β-Ch were submitted to photophysical studies (laser flash photolysis and phosphorescence), in order to delineate the influence of steric shielding and σ–π orbital interactions on the rate of TTET to a series of energy acceptors. As a matter of fact, fine tuning of the donor triplet energy significantly modifies the rate constants of TTET in the absence of diffusion control. The experimental results are rationalized by means of theoretical calculations using first principles methods based on DFT as well as molecular dynamics., Financial support from the Generalitat Valenciana (Prometeo Program), the Spanish Government (CTQ2010-19909, SEV-2012-0267 and FPU fellowship for F.P.) and the Carlos III Institute of Health (Grant RIRAAF, RETICS program and Miguel Servet Contract CP11/00154 for I. A.) is gratefully acknowledged. We thank ASIC-UPV for computing time. Dedicated to Prof. Diego Cortes on the occasion of his 60th birthday.

The aim of the present work is to develop two-channel emitters to probe local hydrophobicity by means of fluorescence quenching within different biomimetic supramolecular environments. To achieve this goal, the dansyl (Dns) and tryptophan (Trp) fluorophores have been covalently attached to cholic acid (CA) in order to ensure simultaneous incorporation of the two emitting units into the same compartment. In principle, the two fluorophores of the synthesized Dns-CA-Trp probes could either exhibit an orthogonal behavior or display excited state interactions. The fluorescence spectra of 3 beta-Dns-CA-Trp showed a residual Trp emission band at ca. 350 nm and an enhanced Dns maximum in the 500-550 nm region. This reveals a partial intramolecular energy transfer, which is consistent with the Dns and Trp singlet energies. Thus, the two photoactive units are not orthogonal; nevertheless, 3 beta-Dns-CA-Trp seems appropriate as a two-channel reporter for the supramolecular systems of interest. Fluorescence quenching of 3 beta-Dns-CA-Trp by iodide (which remains essentially in bulk water) was examined within sodium cholate, sodium taurocholate, sodium deoxycholate and mixed micelles. Interestingly, a decrease in the emission intensity of the two bands was observed with increasing iodide concentrations. The most remarkable effect was observed for mixed micelles, where the quenching rate constants were one order of magnitude lower than in solution. As anticipated, the quenching efficiency by iodide decreased with increasing hydrophobicity of the microenvironment, a trend that can be correlated with the relative accessibility of the probe to the ionic quencher., Financial support from the Spanish Government (CTQ2012-38754-C03-03), Predoctoral FPU fellowship (AP2008-03295), and the Generalitat Valenciana (Prometeo Program) is gratefully acknowledged.

[EN] The properties of singlet and triplet excited states are strongly medium-dependent. Hence, these species constitute valuable tools as reporters to probe compartmentalised microenvironments, including drug@protein supramolecular systems. In the present review, the attention is focused on the photophysical properties of the probe drugs (rather than those of the protein chromophores) using transport proteins (serum albumins and 1-acid glycoproteins) as hosts. Specifically, fluorescence measurements allow investigating the structural and dynamic properties of biomolecules or their complexes. Thus, the emission quantum yields and the decay kinetics of the drug singlet excited states provide key information to determine important parameters such as the stoichiometry of the complex, the binding constant, the relative degrees of occupancy of the different compartments, etc. Application of the FRET concept allows determining donor-acceptor interchromophoric distances. In addition, anisotropy measurements can be related to the orientation of the drug within the binding sites, where the degrees of freedom for conformational relaxation are restricted. Transient absorption spectroscopy is also a potentially powerful tool to investigate the binding of drugs to proteins, where formation of encapsulated triplet excited states is favoured over other possible processes leading to ionic species (i. e. radical ions), and their photophysical properties are markedly sensitive to the microenvironment experienced within the protein binding sites. Even under aerobic conditions, the triplet lifetimes of protein-complexed drugs are remarkably long, which provides a broad dynamic range for identification of distinct triplet populations or for chiral discrimination. Specific applications of the laser flash photolysis technique include the determination of drug distribution among the bulk solution and the protein binding sites, competition of two types of proteins to bind a 3 drug, occurrence of drug-drug interactions within protein binding sites, enzymatic-like activity of the protein or determination of enantiomeric compositions. The use of proteins as supramolecular hosts modifies the photoreactivity of encapsulated substrates by providing protection against oxygen or other external reagents, by imposing conformational restrictions in the binding pockets, or by influencing the stereochemical outcome. In this review, a selected group of examples is presented including decarboxylation, dehalogenation, nucleophilic addition, dimerisation, oxidation, Norrish type II reaction, photo-Fries rearrangement and 6 electrocyclisation, Financial support from the Spanish Government (CTQ2010-14882, JCI-2011-09926, RyC-2007-00476), from the EU (PCIG12-GA-2012-334257), from the Universitat Politènica de València (SP20120757) and from the Consellería de Educació, Cultura i Esport (PROMETEOII/2013/005, GV/2013/051) is gratefully acknowledged.

Correction for ‘A comprehensive mechanistic study on the visible-light photocatalytic reductive dehalogenation of haloaromatics mediated by Ru(bpy)3Cl2’ by Mireia Marin et al., Catal. Sci. Technol., 2017, 7, 4852–4858.

The intramolecular OH· · ·π interactions of the phenolic and olefinic chromophores in o-propenyl and o-butenyl phenols 1a–d in the ground and excited states have been studied by (a) ab initio Hartree–Fock calculations using the 3-21G and 6-31G** basis sets, (b) FTIR spectral measurements in the gas phase, (c) fluorescence emission studies and (d) product studies. Such interactions appear to play a key role in the photochemical behaviour of the four compounds.

Cholesterol is one of the most important building blocks of cell membranes. It is also one of the main targets for oxidation via Type I hydrogen abstraction (HA), which leads to a variety of physiological consequences in the human body. To provide a deeper understanding of the oxidation mechanism, steady-state H-1 CIDNP, steady-state and laser-flash photolysis in combination with quantum mechanical calculations were applied to study HA in three model systems. The experiments involved photoinduced reactions in a cholesterol-benzophenone mixture and two derivatives, in which aminocholestene and benzophenone are covalently coupled yielding a dyad. It has been found, that a specific orientation of the benzophenone moiety toward the allylic hydrogens of cholesterol/aminocholestene is crucial for the efficient HA. Such a confined topology may play an important role for the particular oxidation of cholesterol in cell membranes., Financial support from the MICINN (Grants CTQ2009-13699 and CTQ2010-14882), from the Generalitat Valenciana (Grisolia fellowship for F. P.) from the Carlos III Institute of Health (Grant RIRAAF, RETICS program and Miguel Servet Contract CP11/00154 for I. A.) and TU Graz is gratefully acknowledged.

The photochemical processes occurring in diastereomeric dyads (S, S)-1 and (S, R)-1, prepared by conjugation of (S)-2-(2-hydroxy-1,1'-biphenyl-4-yl) propanoic acid ((S)-BPOH) with (S)- and (R)-Trp, have been investigated. In acetonitrile, the fluorescence spectra of (S, S)-1 and (S, R)-1 were coincident in shape and position with that of (S)-BPOH, although they revealed a markedly stereoselective quenching. Since singlet energy transfer from BPOH to Trp is forbidden (5 kcal mol(-1) uphill), the quenching was attributed to thermodynamically favoured (according to Rehm-Weller) electron transfer or exciplex formation. Upon addition of 20% water, the fluorescence quantum yield of (S)-BPOH decreased, while only minor changes were observed for the dyads. This can be explained by an enhancement of the excited state acidity of (S)-BPOH, associated with bridging of the carboxy and hydroxy groups by water, in agreement with the presence of water molecules in the X-ray structure of (S)-BPOH. When the carboxy group was not available for coordination with water, as in the methyl ester (S)-BPOHMe or in the dyads, this effect was prevented; accordingly, the fluorescence quantum yields did not depend on the presence or absence of water. The fluorescence lifetimes in dry acetonitrile were 1.67, 0.95 and 0.46 ns for (S)-BPOH, (S, S)-1 and (S, R)-1, respectively, indicating that the observed quenching is indeed dynamic. In line with the steady-state and time-resolved observations, molecular modelling pointed to a more favourable geometric arrangement of the two interacting chromophores in (S, R)-1. Interestingly, this dyad exhibited a folded conformation in the solid state., Financial support from the Spanish Government (CTQ2010-14882, BES-2008-003314, JCI-2011-09926, PR2011-0581), from the Generalitat Valenciana (Prometeo 2008/090) and from the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia (PAID 05-11, 2766) is gratefully acknowledged.

Intramolecular chiral recognition in electron-transfer-induced fluorescence quenching has been observed for diastereomeric dyads composed of a naphthalene chromophore and an amine.

Cyclodextrin media are used to achieve photochemical water addition to isolated, acyclic double bonds via intramolecular interaction with excited arenes.

A dramatic enhancement of the di-π-methane rearrangement is observed upon excitation of trans-1,3-diphenylpropene (1) to its higher singlet states in acetonitrile, which leads to trans-1,2-diphenylcyclopropane (3) as a major photoproduct.

The emission from an intramolecular exciplex detected in trans-4-methoxy-2-(3-phenyl-2-propenyl)phenol (1) is the first direct evidence for the excited state interchromophoric interaction in phenol–styrene systems.

Laser flash photolysis studies on the photobehaviour of a series of bichromophoric derivatives bearing benzoylthiophene and tryptophan groups have shown that the efficiency of the intramolecular quenching process depends on both the stereochemistry of the chiral centers and the relative ketone versus tryptophan orientation. Perez Prieto, Julia, Julia.Perez@uv.es

Cholesterol (Ch) is a major target for oxidative degradation in cell membranes, a process which can occur by two mechanisms: Type I (via free radicals) and Type II (mediated by 1O2). In the present work, several dyads have been synthesized from beta- and alpha-Ch and ketoprofen (KP) or tiaprofenic acid (TPA). Upon irradiation under anaerobic conditions, KP-alpha-Ch dyads were efficiently photolyzed, via intramolecular hydrogen abstraction from C-7. By contrast, KP-beta-Ch, TPA-alpha-Ch, and TPA-beta-Ch remained unchanged after prolonged irradiation. The transient absorption spectra of KP-alpha-Ch were assigned to the short-lived biradicals resulting from intramolecular hydrogen abstraction. Interestingly, the spectra and lifetimes obtained for the TPA-derived dyads were very similar to those of the TPA triplet excited state. For the KP-alpha-Ch dyads, generation of singlet oxygen was expectedly negligible. Conversely, for TPA-alpha-Ch a Phi delta) value as high as 0.5 was determined. Thus, KP-based dyads are appropriate models for clean type I Ch oxidation, whereas the TPA derivatives are suitable systems for investigation of the purely type II process.

Two-colour two-laser techniques have unambiguously proved that photolysis of the o-/p-(chloromethyl)benzyl radical leads to the sequential two-photon generation of o-/pxylylene from α,α'-dichloro-o-/p-xylene. Perez Prieto, Julia, Julia.Perez@uv.es

Using the two-laser two-colour technique it has been possible to promote two photon chemistry in the cases of benzyl phenyl ether 1a and phenyl acetate 1b; this is based on the photolysis of the transient cyclohexa-2,4-dienone intermediates 2a,b of the photo-Claisen and photo-Fries rearrangement to the dienic ketenes 4a and 4b.

Using two diastereomeric dyads containing naphthalene and thymine units, significant chiral discrimination has been found in the photophysical processes involving the naphthalene excited states: singlet deactivation by hydrogen bonding molecules, singlet-singlet energy transfer from thymine and triplet decay.

Pinacolone photolysis in the presence of phenols leads to phenyl acetates and hydroxy acetophenones; Norrish type I cleavage and subsequent hydrogen abstraction from the phenol by the tert-butyl radical gives rise to acyl–aryloxy radical pairs which recombined constituting an intermolecular photo-Fries rearrangement.

Two α,ω-diphenyl substituted allylic cations are generated within ZSM-5 and mordenite as persistent species by adsorption of 1-acetoxy-1,3-diphenylpropane and 1,5-diacetoxy-1,5-diphenylpentane onto the H+-form of these zeolites; the diffuse reflectance spectra of these highly coloured samples (orange or pink) matches the very characteristic absorption spectra of these allyl cations in homogeneous solution; the non-acidic Na+-form of these zeolites does not have the same effect.

The photochemical behaviour of benzyl chloride is strongly altered by inclusion within the zeolite micropores; evidence is presented for the existence of an ionic pathway in zeolites which is not present when the photochemical reaction occurs in liquid media.

It is experimentally confirmed that the radical cation of 1,4-diphenylcyclohexane-1,4-diyl does not isomerize thermally to the radical cation of 2,5-diphenylhexa-1,5-diene, but is instead quantitatively dehydrogenated to p-terphenyl.