4-Styrylquinolines: synthesis and study of [2 + 2]-photocycloaddition reactions in thin films and single crystals

Abstract

Four new (E)-4-styrylquinoline compounds containing two methoxy substituents or an 18-crown-6-ether fragment were synthesized in order to investigate the [2 + 2]-photocycloaddition (PCA) reaction in the solid state. These compounds reveal different abilities to undergo the photoreaction depending on the packing of the quinoline molecules in thin polycrystalline films and single crystals. The only products from the irradiation of (E)-4-styrylquinolines were an rctt isomer of 1,2,3,4-tetrasubstituted cyclobutane and, rarely, a Z isomer of the styrylquinoline. The rctt cyclobutane derivative was formed as a result of the PCA of centrosymmetric syn-‘head-to-tail’ dimeric pairs of the reactant species that are preorganized in such a way as to promote this reaction. Peculiarities in the crystal packing motifs that are typical for single crystals of 4-styrylquinoline compounds are discussed. The solvate molecules can affect significantly the packing of styrylquinolines. Benzene solvate molecules create a soft, flexible, shell about the dimeric pairs that facilitates the PCA in the single crystal without causing degradation of the crystal. In crystal packing that contains CH₂Cl₂ and H₂O solvate molecules, they are prone to form complicated systems of hydrogen bonds with crown-ether oxygen atoms and each other. This results in distorting the organic molecule geometry toward non-planarity and accomplishing a new type of crystal packing uncommon for styrylheterocycles, in which the PCA is impossible. The topochemical single-crystal-to-single-crystal PCA reaction was monitored for one of the species. Two cyclobutane derivatives obtained in single crystals were subjected to recrystallization from a solution. The new single crystals formed belong to different crystal systems, with different unit cell parameters as compared with initial single crystals; significant differences in the geometry of the cyclobutane molecules were also found. This implies that the cyclobutane derivatives obtained in the solid phase have a molecular geometry that is somewhat stressed.