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A mild, low-cost and green protocol for the photochemical Friedel–Crafts arylation of aldehydes with indoles, utilizing arylazo sulfones as the photoacid generator.

There is an urgent need to develop uncharged radical precursors to be activated under mild photocatalyzed conditions. 2-Substituted-1,3-oxazolidines (

The photochemistry of aryl chlorides having a X-SiMe3 group (X = O, NR, S, SiMe2) tethered to the aromatic ring has been investigated in detail, with the aim to generate valuable ϭ,π-heterodiradicals. Two competitive pathways arising from the excited triplet state of the aromatics have been observed, namely heterolysis of the aryl–chlorine bond and homolysis of the X–silicon bond. The former path is found in chlorinated phenols and anilines, whereas the latter is exclusive in the case of silylated thiophenols and aryl silanes. A combined experimental/computational approach was pursued to explain such a photochemical behavior. Graphical abstract[Figure not available: see fulltext.]

Sunlight drives photocatalytic and solar–photoelectrochemical processes. These play a key role in converting solar energy into chemical fuel by using semiconductors as the photoactive components. This chapter aims to provide a brief introduction to such processes, by pointing out the similarities and differences of such processes.

A set of arylazo sulfones, known to undergo N–S bond cleavage upon light exposure, has been synthesized, and their activity in the dark and upon irradiation towards DNA has been investigated. Their interaction with calf-thymus DNA has been examined, and the significant affinity observed (most probably due to DNA intercalation) was analyzed by means of molecular docking “in silico” calculations that pointed out polar contacts, mainly via the sulfonyl moiety. Incubation with plasmid pBluescript KS II revealed DNA cleavage that has been studied over time and concentration. UV-A irradiation considerably improved DNA damage for most of the compounds, whereas under visible light the effect was slightly lower. Moving to in vitro experiments, irradiation was found to slightly enhance the death of the cells in the majority of the compounds. Naphthylazosulfone 1 showed photo-disruptive effect under UV-A irradiation (IC50 ~13 μΜ) followed by derivatives 14 and 17 (IC50 ~100 μΜ). Those compounds were irradiated in the presence of two non-cancer cell lines and were found equally toxic only upon irradiation and not in the dark. The temporal and spatial control of light, therefore, might provide a chance for these novel scaffolds to be useful for the development of phototoxic pharmaceuticals.

Cannabis is a plant with an astonishing ability to biosynthesize cannabinoids, and more than 100 molecules belonging to this class have been isolated. Among them in recent years cannabidiol (CBD) has received the interest of pharmacology as the major nonpsychotropic cannabinoid with many potential clinical applications. Although the reactivity of CBD has been widely investigated, only little attention has been given to the possible photodegradation of this cannabinoid, and the data available in the literature are outdated and, in some cases, conflicting. The aim of the present work is providing a characterization of the photochemical behavior of CBD in organic solvents, through a detailed GC-MS analyses, isolation, and NMR characterization of the photoproducts obtained.

The protection of a carbonyl is a standard procedure to mask the reactivity of this group towards nucleophiles and reductants. The present work pointed out the potentialities of arylazo sulfones as non-ionic PhotoAcid Generators (PAGs) to promote the efficient conversion of aldehydes and ketones into acetals, ketals and 1,3-oxazolidines upon visible-light irradiation. Such approach takes advantages from the mild conditions employed and exhibits an easy scalability and a broad scope (80 examples included).

Amphiphilic aryl radicals generated upon visible light irradiation of arylazo sulfones have been exploited in the development of a solventylation strategy via hydrogen atom transfer (HAT). The present protocol succeeded in the versatile functionalization of various olefins with carbon-centered radicals deriving from acetone, acetonitrile, chloroform, methylene chloride, nitromethane, methyl acetate, and methyl formate under metal- and photocatalyst-free conditions. The direct addition of the aryl radicals onto the olefin substrates was suppressed under high dilution conditions.

The selective visible-light-driven generation of a weak acid (sulfinic acid, in nitrogen-purged solutions) or a strong acid (sulfonic acid, in oxygen-purged solutions) by using shelf-stable arylazo sulfones was developed. These sulfones were then used for the green, smooth, and efficient photochemical catalytic protection of several (substituted) alcohols (and phenols) as tetrahydropyranyl ethers or acetals.

The photochemistry of tris(2,4-dibromophenyl)amine was investigated via time-resolved nanosecond spectroscopy. The tris(2,4-dibromophenyl)amine radical cation ("Magic Green") was immediately detected after the laser pulse; this intermediate then cyclizes to N-aryl-4a,4b-dihydrocarbazole radical cation. The latter transient reacted with molecular oxygen to provide the corresponding hydroperoxyl radical, which smoothly co-oxidize sulfides into sulfoxides. On the other hand, the photogenerated "Magic Green" was exploited to promote the co-oxidation of nucleophilic triarylphosphines to triarylphosphine oxides through an electron transfer process preventing the amine cyclization. In this case, the intermediate Ar3 POO•+ was found to play a key role in phosphine oxide formation.

The photoreactivity of triphenylamine in homogeneous media has been investigated by means of laser flash photolysis spectroscopy and preparative experiments. The goal of this study consists in the evaluation of the photophysical and photochemical behavior of transient N-phenyl-4a,4b-dihydrocarbazole (DHC0) under polar and non-polar solvents which was not performed yet. The kinetic parameters of such a key intermediate including lifetime (τd, τR and τox) and rate constants (kd, kR and kox) have been measured and the intermediacy of DHC0 in the co-oxidation of nucleophilic substrates such as sulfides and phosphines was investigated by a combined time-resolved and steady-state approach. Two distinctly oxidizing intermediates, a hydroperoxy radical and a hydroperoxide derivative were formed from transient DHC0 in the presence of molecular oxygen. Radical I oxidizes triarylphosphines, whereas intermediate II converts sulfides into the corresponding sulfoxides.

The polymerization of a broad range of electron-poor olefins has been achieved under free-radical conditions by using arylazo sulfones as visible light photoinitiators. The process proceeds smoothly at room temperature both in bulk and in the presence of solvents upon irradiation with a 40 W Kessil lamp (456 nm, blue light) in the absence of any co-initiators or additives. High molecular weight polymers are obtained in excellent yields.

The synthesis of 1,3,4-trisubstituted pyrroles via visible-light mediated photoredox catalyzed condensation of arylazides and aldehydes has been reported herein. The methodology avoids the use of stoichiometric oxidants and provides the corresponding N-containing arenes in good yields (up to 78%) and mild conditions. Mechanistic rationale is provided via a dedicated and combined spectroscopic/experimental investigations.

A metal-free route for the synthesis of biarenes has been developed. The approach is based on the photoextrusion of a phosphate moiety occurring upon irradiation of biaryl- and triaryl phosphates. The reaction involves an exciplex as the intermediate and it is especially suitable for the preparation of electron-rich biarenes.

The preparation of symmetrical (hetero)biaryls via arylazo sulfones has been successfully carried out upon visible light irradiation in the presence of PPh3AuCl as the catalyst. The present protocol led to the efficient synthesis of a wide range of target compounds in an organic-aqueous solvent under photocatalyst-free conditions.

The optoelectronic features of 3-hydroxyflavone (3HF) self-assembled on the surface of an n-type semiconducting metal oxide (TiO2) and an insulator (Al2O3) are herein investigated. 3HF molecules use the coordinatively unsaturated metal ions present on the oxide surface to form metal complexes, which exhibit different behaviors upon light irradiation, depending on the nature of the metal ion. Specifically, we show that the photoluminescence of the surface species can be modulated according to the chemical properties of the complex (i.e. the binding metal ion), resulting in solid-state emitters in a high quantum yield (about 15%). Furthermore, photoinduced charge injection can be promoted or inhibited, providing a multifunctional hybrid system. Validerad;2023;Nivå 2;2023-02-10 (joosat);Licens fulltext: CC BY License