Enantioselective Single-Crystal-to-Single-Crystal Photodimerization of Coumarin and Thiocoumarin in Inclusion Complexes with Chiral Host Compounds.

An intermolecular enantioselective photoreaction by a single-crystal-to-single-crystal transformation has been carried out for the first time, as is evident from X-ray structure analysis and X-ray powder diffractometric studies. This reaction, the dimerization of the title compound to cyclobutane derivative 1 (X=O, S), provides a good example for studying the mechanism of topochemical reactions in the crystal.