Factors controlling photochemical cleavage of the energetically unfavorable Ph-Se bond of alkyl phenyl selenides.

Primary photochemical paths of alkyl phenyl selenides (1) were investigated, and an origin of large deviations in the chemical yields of products obtained by carbon radical reactions induced by photolysis of phenyl selenides was clarified. KrF excimer laser photolyses of n-pentyl phenyl selenide (1a) yielded 1-pentene (2a), n-pentane (3a), n-decane (4a), dipentyl selenide (5a), benzene (6), dipentyl diselenide (7a), and diphenyl diselenide (7) as major photoproducts, with compounds 2a, 3a, 4a, 5a, and 7 formed by pentyl-Se bond cleavage, and 5a, 6, and 7a by Ph-Se bond cleavage. The selectivity of the photoproducts revealed the occurrence of an unexpected amount of Ph-Se bond cleavage (35% in n-hexane at 248 nm) during photolysis. Solvent viscosity, wavelength of light, and the structure of alkyl substituents were the major factors that controlled Ph-Se bond cleavage. The ratio of Ph-Se bond cleavage decreased with increasing solvent viscosity and laser wavelength. The effect of alkyl substituents on the ratio of bond cleavages, Ph-Se/total C-Se, was investigated for five alkyl phenyl selenides; the ratio decreased in the order pentyl > 2-methylallyl > allyl > 1-ethylpropyl > tert-butyl groups. The contribution of Ph-Se bond cleavage is most probably the origin of the large deviations in the yields of radical reactions induced by photolyses of 1, which can be minimized by selecting appropriate solvents and wavelength of light.