Photoinduced Reactivity in a Dispiro-1,2,4-trioxolane: Adamantane Ring Expansion and First Direct Observation of the Long-Lived Triplet Diradical Intermediates

Dispiro-1,2,4-trioxolane, 1 , an ozonide with efficient and broad antiparasitic activity, was synthesized and investigated using matrix isolation FTIR and EPR spectroscopies together with both B3LYP/6-311++G(3df,3dp) and M06-2X/6-311++G(3df,3dp) theoretical methods. Irradiations (λ ≥ 290 nm) of the matrix isolated 1 (Ar or N 2 ) afforded exclusively 4-oxahomoadamantan-5-one, 4 , and 1,4-cyclohexanedione, 5 . These results suggested that the reaction proceeded via a dioxygen-centered diradical intermediate, formed upon homolytic cleavage of the labile peroxide bond, which regioselectively isomerized to form the more stable (secondary carbon-centered)/oxygen-centered diradical. In situ EPR measurements during the photolysis of 1 deposited in a MeTHF-matrix led to the detection of signals corresponding to two triplet species, one of which was short-lived while the other proved to be persistent at 10 K. These observations strongly support the proposed mechanism for the photogeneration of 4 and 5 , which involves intramolecular rearrangement of the intermediate diradical species 2 o afford the triplet diradical 3 .