Formation and Reactivity of 2-Styryl-1,4-benzoquinones

1,4-Benzoquinones with Styryl Substituents

2-Styryl-1,4-benzoquinone (1) and compounds 2 and 3 containing 1 as a substructure all proved to be highly reactive towards thermal or photochemical [4π + 2π] cyclodimerization reactions. Chemo-, regio- and stereoselective processes lead to dimers (compounds 1−10), which can undergo secondary reactions consisting of the addition of nucleophiles combined with a twofold keto-enol tautomerism (10 ⇄ 12). An alternative process is dehydrogenation/oxidation followed by an intramolecular [4π + 2π] cycloaddition (10 ⇄ 11). The same selective [4π + 2π] cyclodimerization can be observed in solution upon irradiation (e.g., 1a ⇄ 10a), in contrast to irradiation in the crystalline state which yields a […

ChemInform Abstract: Formation and Reactivity of 2-Styryl-1,4-benzoquinones.

Monodisperse Dialkoxy-Substituted Oligo(phenyleneethenylene)s

Individual but connected synthetic routes for the preparation of the all-E-configured 2,5-dipropoxy-substituted oligo(1,4-phenyleneethenylene)s 1a–g were developed. An increasing number of conjugated stilbene units from n = 1 to n = 11 led to a convergent bathochromic shift (Δλ = λ∞ − λ1 = 127 nm) in the UV/Vis absorption. An exponential function for the convergence of the absorption energies (wavelengths) in conjugated systems is proposed. By a simple extrapolation of this function the effective chain length may be determined.