Photochemical Rearrangement of a 19-Membered Azoxybenzocrown: Products and their Properties.

The preparation and characterization of products of the chemical and photochemical rearrangements of a 19-membered o,o'-azoxybenzocrown are presented. In photochemical rearrangement, besides the expected product i. e. 19-membered o-hydroxy-o,o'-azobenzocrown (19-o-OH) obtained under defined conditions with 75 % yield, also other macrocyclic products were isolated and identified, namely: 19-membered p-hydroxy-o,o'-azobenzocrown (19-p-OH), 21-membered o'-hydroxy-o,p'-azobenzocrown (21-o'-OH) and 19-membered macrocycle containing a 5-membered ring bearing an aldehyde group (19-al). The structures of two atypical products of the photochemical rearrangement - 21-o'-OH and 19-al - were determined in the solid state by X-ray analysis and in solution using NMR spectroscopy. Tautomeric equilibrium of the formed hydroxyazobenzocrowns and its change depending on acidity/basicity of the environment and alkali and alkaline earth metal cations complexation were studied using UV-Vis spectrophotometry, spectrofluorimetry and 1 H NMR spectroscopy.