A styrene based water soluble polymer as a reaction medium for photodimerization of aromatic hydrocarbons in water
Abstract
A styrene based water soluble polymer (polymer-A) has been explored as a host for solubilizing otherwise insoluble aromatic hydrocarbons in water. The increased local concentration of encapsulated aromatic hydrocarbons within the hydrophobic pockets of polymer-A was utilized for performing efficient photodimerization of acenaphthylene (1) and six 9-substituted anthracenes [AnCOOH, AnCHO, AnCH2OH, AnCH3, AnBr and AnCN] in water. Photodimerization of these aromatic hydrocarbons were more efficient than in water and yielded dimers even at low concentrations (∼10−4 M). At the same concentration of anthracenes in organic solvents such as benzene and methanol, no dimers were formed even after 48 h of irradiation. Although the polymer-A was able to increase the local concentration of the reactant aromatics it was unable to orient them towards a single dimer.
Suggested Citation
S Arumugam, DR Vutukuri, S Thayumanavan, and V Ramamurthy. "A styrene based water soluble polymer as a reaction medium for photodimerization of aromatic hydrocarbons in water" Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A-Chemistry 185.2-3 (2007): 168-171.
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/sankaran_thayumanavan/74