Photoactivation of amino-substituted 1,4-benzoquinones for release of carboxylate and phenolate leaving groups using visible light

Upon exposure to visible light, 2-pyrrolidino-substituted 3,6-dimethyl-1,4-benzoquinones photocyclize to give benzoxazolines with quantum yields of 0.07-0.10 in CH2Cl2, 0.02-0.04 in CH3CN, and < 0.01 in 30% aq CH3CN. With carboxylate or phenolate leaving groups incorporated via coupling to a 5-hydroxymethyl group of the quinones, the photocyclizations give benzoxazolines that eliminate the leaving groups in a dark reaction. Lifetimes for elimination of 4-YC6H4OH in 30% phosphate buffer in CD3CN (pD 7) at 17 degrees C are 13.1, 0.54, and 0.13 h for Y = H, CF3, and CN, respectively, and the linear equation log k (h(-1)) = 0.998(-pK(a)) + 8.80 gives a best fit to the data. Carboxylate leaving groups are rapidly eliminated upon photolysis of the quinones in aq CH3CN to produce an o-quinone methide intermediate that is trapped by 4 + 2 cycloaddition with unreacted starting material or with added 3-(dimethylamino)-5,5-dimethyl-2-cyclohexen-1-one. The ortho-quinone methide is observed at 339 and 455 nm by conventional absorption spectroscopy and gives a pseudo-first-order fit of the decay kinetics with tau(1/2) = 34.9 min in 30% phosphate buffer in CH3CN at 20 degrees C.