The kinetics of photochemical reactions. Part I. Application of a modified bond-energy–bond-order method to the atom abstraction reactions of excited carbonyl compounds

Abstract

A modification of the Bond-Energy–Bond-Order method has been applied to the intermolecular photoreduction of carbonyl compounds. It provides a way of predicting the kinetics of these reactions as well as an insight into the role of the different thermodynamic parameters and the shape of the potential energy surface. The results strongly support the biradical model for the carbonyl triplet, in which the oxygen atom is formally considered as a free radical centre. A comparison with alternative models is also carried out.