o-benzoquinone photoreduction products in the presence of N,N-dimethylanilines

Photoreduction of o-benzoquinones in the presence of para-substituted N,N-dimethyl-anilines under irradiation at λ ≥ 500 nm affords pyrocatechol monoethers of the 2-(amino-methoxy)phenol type. In the subsequent dark reaction, these monoethers undergo quantitative decomposition by a heterolytic mechanism to give the corresponding pyrocatechols and nitrogen-containing compounds. The rate of this decomposition decreases with decreasing size of the substituent at the position adjacent to the ether bond that is formed upon photoreduction. The redox characteristics of such pyrocatechol monoethers can serve as the criterion of their stability. A weakening of the electron-withdrawing properties of quinones and the electron-donating properties of amines leads to an increase in stability of their reaction products.