UV photoreaction pathways of acetylacetaldehyde trapped in cryogenic matrices

The broadband UV photochemistry kinetics of acetylacetaldehyde, the hybrid form between malonaldehyde and acetylacetone (the two other most simple molecules exhibiting an intramolecular proton transfer), trapped in four cryogenic matrices, neon, nitrogen, argon, and xenon, has been followed by FTIR and UV spectroscopy. After deposition, only the two chelated forms are observed while they isomerize upon UV irradiation toward nonchelated species. From previous UV irradiation effects, we have already identified several nonchelated isomers, capable, in turn, of isomerizing and fragmenting; even fragmentation seems to be most unlikely due to cryogenic cages confinement. Based on these findings, we have attempted an approach to understand the reaction path of electronic relaxation. Indeed, we have demonstrated, in previous studies, that in the case of malonaldehyde, this electronic relaxation pathway proceeds through singlet states while it proceeds through triplet ones in the case of acetylacetone. We observed CO and CO₂ formations when photochemistry is almost observed among nonchelated forms, i.e., when the parent molecule is almost totally consumed. In order to identify a triplet state transition, we have tried to observe a "heavy atom effect" by increasing the weight of the matrix gas, from Ne to Xe, and to quench the T₁ state by doping the matrices with O₂. It appears that, as in the case of acetylacetone, it is the nonchelated forms that fragment. It also appears that these fragmentations certainly take place in the T₁ triplet state and originate in an Π* ← n transition.