Monitoring structural transformations in crystals. 8. Monitoring molecules and a reaction center during a solid-state Yang photocyclization

Acta Cryst. (2006). B62, 128–134 [doi: 10.1107/S0108768105034014]

Structural changes in a single crystal, brought about by an intramolecular photochemical reaction, were monitored step-by-step using X-ray diffraction analysis. Special attention was paid to monitoring variations in the relative orientation of reactant and product molecules, changes in geometrical parameters describing the reaction center, and variations in the cell constants. Although rarely met in the scientific literature, such studies are important because they provide detailed information about the course of reactions in crystals. The results of the present study are compared with analogous data published for other single-crystal to single-crystal photochemical reactions.

I. Turowska-Tyrk, E. Trzop, J. R. Scheffer and S. Chen