The mechanism of the photoinduced Markovnikov addition of methanol to the double bond of 2,2,4,6-tetramethyl-1,2-dihydroquinoline (1) and 1,2,2,4,6-pentamethyl-1,2-dihydroquinoline (2) was studied by the flash photolysis technique over a wide range of acetic acid and KOH concentrations. The successive formation of two transients was observed in neutral solutions in the case of compound 1. These transients have lifetimes on ms time-scales and absorption spectra with maxima at 420 and 480 nm for the first and the second transient, respectively. The decay rate constants of these transients (k1 and k2) were measured over the temperature range from 10 to 45 degrees C and the activation energies E1 approximately 0 and E2 (31.4 +/- 3.1) kJ mol(-1) were determined. In MeOH acidified with acetic acid only the second transient (lambda(max) = 480 nm) was observed, and it is proposed that this is due to a carbocation. The deuterium kinetic isotope effects determined in MeOD are 2 and 1.3 for k1 and k2, respectively, indicating that the first reaction is proton transfer proceeding via the A-SE2 mechanism and the second reaction is the nucleophilic addition of the solvent to the carbocation. In alkaline media, only the first transient (lambda(max) = 420 nm) was observed with a lifetime of 250 ms at [KOH] > 2 x 10(-3) mol dm(-3). In the case of compound 2, the formation of a carbocation with lambda(max) = 490 mn and a lifetime of several ms is observed within 10 ns of excitation in neutral, acidic, and alkaline solutions. The carbocation is quenched with KOH with a rate constant of 7 x 10(6) mol(-1) dm(3) s(-1). The quantum yields of the reaction and of the fluorescence were measured and possible mechanisms discussed.

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Femtosecond and picosecond dynamics of 2,2,4,6-tetramethyl-1,2-dihydroquinoline (1) and 1,2,2,4,6-pentamethyl-1,2-dihydroquinoline (2) were studied in MeOH, MeOD, and Pr(i)OH to probe the early events of the photoinduced proton transfer (PT) between 1,2-dihydroquinolines (DHQ) and a solvent. From studies in the two solvents MeOH and Pr(i)OH and by examining the effect of deuterium replacement of proton, it has been established that PT takes 150-200 fs in MeOH, but does not occur in Pr(i)OH. The formation of PT products in the ground state proceeds concurrently to the relaxation of the higher vibrational excited singlet state to the thermally equilibrated state S(1) of DHQ. The absorption spectrum of the S(1) state was registered, and the time constant of its decay in MeOH (ca. 1 ns) agrees well with the lifetime of fluorescence measured recently by single photon counting.

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