Photoinduced C−N Bond Cleavage in 2-Azido-1,3-diphenyl-propan-1-one Derivatives: Photorelease of Hydrazoic Acid

Photolysis of 3-azido-1,3-diphenyl-propan-1-one (1a) in toluene yields 1,3-diphenyl-propen-1-one (2),
whereas irradiation of 3-azido-2,2-dimethyl-1,3-diphenyl-propan-1-one (1b) results in the formation of
mainly 2,2-dimethyl-1,3-diphenyl-propan-1-one. Laser flash photolysis (308 nm) of 1a,b in acetonitrile
reveals a transient absorption (λmax = ∼310 nm) due to the formation of radicals 4a and 4b, respectively,
which have lifetimes of ∼14 μs at ambient temperature. TD−DFT calculations (B3LYP/6-31+G(d))
reveal that the first and second excited states of the triplet ketone (T1K (n,π*) and T2K (π,π*)) in azide
1a are almost degenerate, at ∼74 and 76 kcal/mol above the ground state (S0), respectively. Similarly,
azide 1b has T1K and T2K 75 and 82 kcal/mol above S0, respectively. The calculated transition state for
cleaving the C−N bond is located 71 and 74 kcal/mol above S0 in azides 1a and 1b, respectively. The
calculated bond dissociation energies for breaking the C−N bond are 55 and 58 kcal/mol for azides 1a
and 1b, respectively, making C−N bond breakage accessible from T1K in azides 1 at ambient temperature.
In comparison, the irradiation of azides 1 in argon matrices at 14 K lead to the formation of the
corresponding triplet alkyl nitrenes (1-n), via intramolecular energy transfer from T2K. The characterization
of 1-n was supported by isotope labeling, IR spectroscopy, and molecular modeling.