Earticle

Photoreaction of N-(o-halophenyl)acetamide in basic acetonitrile produces an intramolecular substituted product, 2-methylbenzoxazole in addition to reduced product, acetanilide, whereas photoreaction of N-(o-halobenzyl) acetamide affords a reduced product, N-benzylacetamide only. On the basis of preparative reaction, kinetics, and UV/vis absorption behavior, an electrophilic aromatic substitution of aryl halide with oxygen of its amide bond are proposed.

The photochemical behavior of haloarene tethered to alkyl by an amide bone(1,2) was studied. The photoreaction of N-(2-bromophenyl) cyclohexanecarboxamide (1b) in basic medium afforded intramolecular substitute product, 2-cyclohexylbenzoxazole (4) and reduced product, N-phenylcyclohexanecarboxamide (5)in 33 and 26% yield, respectively. The chloro analogue(1a) produced photo-Fries type and photosubstituted products(6,4), whereas the iodo analogue produced extensively photoreduced product 5. N-(2-bromophenyl)-N-methylcyclohexanecarboxamide (2), which can not exist as imidol form, produced a photocyclized product, supporting as imidol form is involved in the intramolecular photosubstitution. since the photoreduction but the photosubstitution reaction is retarded by the presence of oxygen, a trilpet state for the photoreduction and a singlet state for the photosubstitution are involved.