Photolysis of 1B in argon-saturated solutions yields 4B and releases methanol. Laser flash photolysis of 1B shows formation of biradical 2B, which has a lifetime of~ 50 ns and a λ max at 330 nm. Biradical 2B undergoes an intersystem crossing to form photoenols E-3B and Z- 3B with a λ max at 390 nm. Laser flash photolysis shows that the lifetimes of E-3B and Z-3B are affected by the solvent. Density functional theory calculations demonstrate that the ...
