CONTROLLED PHOTOCYCLOADDITION OF UNSATURATED CARBOXYLATES INTERCALATED IN HYDROTALCITE CLAY INTERLAYERS

Photochemical cycloaddition for several unsaturated carboxylates has been studied in the presence of hydrotalcite clays. Syn head-to-head cyclodimers were selectively formed in the irradiation of sodium cinnamates intercalated in the dispersed clays. On the other hand, two isomers of syn head-to-head and syn head-to-tail cyclodimers were formed for the case of (phenylethenyl)benzoates. The degree of intercalation was shown to be dependent on the structures of the carboxylates. X-ray diffraction analyses revealed that the carboxylates are intercalated as a monolayer, which suggests an alternate anti-parallel packing since a clay interlayer possesses two ionic surfaces, top and bottom. The product selectivity was shown to be controlled by the relative distances of double bonds from the ionic surfaces of the clay. The molecular aggregates of intercalated carboxylates were affected by adding photoinactive coadsorbates; the major photochemical processes shifted from photocycloadditions to cis-trans isomerizations and from excimer to monomer fluorescence emissions.