Photochemistry of 4‐ and 5‐ phenyl substituted isoxazoles

5‐Phenylisoxazole ( 4 ) and 4‐phenylisoxazole ( 22 ) underwent phototransposition to 5‐phenyloxazole ( 5 ) and 4‐phenyloxazole ( 24 ) respectively. Labeling with deuterium or methyl confirmed that these phototranspositions occurred via the P 4 pathway which involves only interchange of the N2 and C3 ring position. Thus, 4‐deuterio‐5‐phenylisoxazole ( 4‐4d ), 4‐methyl‐5‐phenylisoxazole ( 10 ), and 5‐methyl‐4‐phenylisoxazole ( 23 ) phototransposed to 4‐deuterio‐5‐phenyloxazole ( 5‐4d ), 4‐methyl‐5‐phenyloxazole ( 11 ), and 5‐methyl‐4‐phenyloxazole ( 25 ) respectively. In addition to phototransposition, isoxazoles 4, 10 , and 23 also underwent photo‐ring cleavage to yield benzoylacetonitrile (9), α‐benzoylpropionitrile ( 15 ), and aceto‐α‐phenylacetonitrile ( 26 ) respectively. Irradiation of 5‐phenyl‐3‐(trifluoromethyl)isoxazole ( 16 ) in acetonitrile led to 5‐phenyl‐2‐(trifluoromethyl)oxazole ( 17 ), the P 4 phototransposition product. Irradiation of 16 in methanol led to a substantial decrease in the yield of 17 and to the formation of a mixture of ( E ) and ( Z )‐2‐methoxy‐2‐(trifluoromethyl)‐3‐benzoylaziridines 18a and 18b .