Stable radicals during photodecarbonylations of trityl-alkyl ketones enable solid state reactions through primary and secondary radical centers.

The solid state photoexcitation of several triphenylmethyl-alkyl ketones resulted in the loss of CO and the exclusive formation of radical-radical combination products. Differences in reactivity suggest a stepwise mechanism with the unprecedented formation of primary and secondary radicals in some of the radical pair intermediates in the solid state.