Divergent stereochemistry of photocyclization from singlet and triplet states of 2-vinylbiphenyls. X-Ray crystal structure of cis-9-phenyl-10-methyl-9,10-dihydrophenanthrene
Abstract
The singlet cyclization of Z(or E)-1-biphenyl-2-yl-1-phenylpropene proceeds stereoselectively to cis(or trans)-9-phenyl-10-methyl-9,10-dihydrophenanthrene (the cis-isomer has been characterized by X-ray crystallography) while the triplet cyclization gives a [trans]/[cis] ratio of 9 : 1 whatever the starting isomer.