Photochemical substitution of polyhalogenothiophene and halogenothiazole derivatives

Abstract

The irradiation of 2,3-diodo-5-nitrothiophene in the presence of aromatic and heteroaromatic compounds gave the corresponding 2-aryl derivatives in high yields. The irradiation of 2,4-diiodo-5-nitrothiophene under the same conditions gave the corresponding 2-aryl derivatives in low yields. The observed difference in the reactivity can be explained on the basis of the hypothesis that the homolytic cleavage of the carbon–iodine bond occurred in a π,σ* triplet state. Computational results showed that the lowest triplet state of the 2,3-diiodo isomer is π,σ*, while that of the 2,4-isomer is π,π*. The irradiation of 2-bromo-5-nitrothiazole in the presence of benzene or indene gave the corresponding 2-bromo-5-arylthiazole. This behaviour can be explained by considering that the lowest excited triplet state cannot allow the cleavage of the carbon–bromine bond thus electron transfer occurs and leads to the substitution of the nitro group. The photochemical substitution reactions on 2,3-diiodo-5-nitrothiophene can be carried out in large scale using a new flow reactor using a PFTE pipe.