Chemoselective photorearrangements of pyrazino-, quinoxalino-, and benzoquinoxalinobarrelenes wereinvestigated by deuterium-labeling experiment. Photolysis of pyrazinobarrelene
4 and quinoxalinobarrelene
5 with 300 nm region light under either direct or sensitized conditions afforded semibullvalenes
7 and
8,respectively; benzoquinoxalinobarrelene
6 was inert to both reaction conditions. Irradiation of deuteratedpyrazinobarrelene
4-d4 and quinoxalinobarrelene
5-d4 afforded deuterated semibullvalenes
7-d4-A-
7-d4-F and
8-d4-A-
8-d4-F, respectively. Of the two a priori possibilities of bridging, the deuterium-labelingexperiment has shown that deuterated pyrazinobarrelene
4-d4 afforded 98% (C
6D
6) and 95% (CD
3CN)of semibullvalenes generated through aryl-vinyl (A-V) bridging, whereas the quinoxalinobarrelene
5-d4furnished 79% (C
6D
6) and 71% (CD
3CN) of semibullvalenes generated through vinyl-vinyl (V-V)bridging. The contrasting photochemical behavior of heteroarene-fused barrelenes
4-
6 was explainedqualitatively in terms of triplet energy minimization and relative stability of diradicaloid intermediates.