Ultrafast polyene dynamics: the ring opening of 1,3-cyclohexadiene derivatives.

The light activated ring-opening reaction of the 1,3-cyclohexadiene chromophore finds application in optical control, optical switching, optical memory, light activated molecular machines, photobiology, photochromic materials, and conformation-specific photocatalysts. The development of ultrafast spectroscopic methods and powerful computational methods have accelerated the understanding and facilitated the application of this important chromophore in a wide range of systems. Here we look at the current state of theoretical and experimental understanding for the ring-opening reaction of the isolated cyclohexadiene molecule and the ring-opening reactions of substituted cyclohexadienes, including fulgides, diarylethenes, and provitamin D.

Ultrafast ring-opening reactions: a comparison of alpha-terpinene, alpha-phellandrene, and 7-dehydrocholesterol with 1,3-cyclohexadiene.

The excited and ground state dynamics of a series of 1,3-cyclohexadiene derivatives and their hexatriene photoproducts are studied using ultrafast broadband UV-visible transient absorption spectroscopy. The substitution pattern around the cyclohexadiene backbone alters the excited state potential energy surface in the Franck-Condon region as evidenced by changes in the excited state absorption and fluorescence properties of the systems. Unsubstituted 1,3-cyclohexadiene and alpha-phellandrene exhibit no excited state absorption while a strong excited state absorption in the visible spectral region is observed for both alpha-terpinene and Provitamin D3. Steric factors introduced by the ring substitutions determine the dominant rotational isomer at equilibrium for the hexatriene photoproducts. Coupling to the solvent during the conformational relaxation from the initial helical all-cis hexatriene is unique to each photoproduct, but the relaxation process occurs on a 6-10 ps timescale regardless of the size or substitution pattern on the triene.

Photochemical ring-opening and ground state relaxation in α-terpinene with comparison to provitamin D3.

Ultrafast broadband UV-visible transient absorption spectroscopy is used to characterize the photochemistry of α-terpinene, a 1,4-disubstituted-1,3-cyclohexadiene natural product. These results are compared with experiments probing the analogous ring-opening reaction of 7-dehydrocholesterol (DHC, provitamin D3) and the subsequent relaxation of previtamin D3. The major experimental results are as follows: (1) Like DHC, but unlike 1,3-cyclohexadiene, α-terpinene exhibits a broad excited state absorption (ESA) spectrum in the visible. The lifetime of the excited state is ca. 0.16 ps in 1-butanol and 0.12 ps in hexane. (2) The state responsible for the ESA is the initially excited state. Fluorescence from this state has a quantum yield of ~2 × 10(-5). The fluorescence quantum yield is an order of magnitude smaller, and the excited state lifetime is an order of magnitude shorter than that observed for DHC. (3) The initial gZg-triene photoproduct absorbs to the red, and the relaxed tZg-triene product absorbs to the blue of α-terpinene. The gZg→tZg reaction of the vibrationally hot photoproduct requires ca. 6.5 ps with no significant dependence on solvent polarity or viscosity. Thermalization occurs on a time scale of 2-4 ps depending on solvent, but shows no particular trends within the solvent series. (4) The conformational relaxation of previtamin D3 occurs on a similar time scale of ca. 5-8 ps with a modest dependence on the solvent viscosity.