Photochemistry of dibenzo-1,4-dioxin: formation of 2,2′-biphenylquinone as an observable intermediate

Abstract

Photolysis of dibenzo-1,4-dioxin 1, which is the parent ring system of the well-known environmental contaminant ‘dioxin’ and 2,3,7,8-tetramethyldibenzo-1,4-dioxin 2, in aqueous solution results in a novel intramolecular rearrangement, giving rise to intermediate 2,2′-biphenylquinones, which are observable by UV–VIS spectrophotometry.