Photoreactions\nof Semi-Stiff-Diarylethenes Based on\nthe Cyclohexenol Motif

Nonsymmetric diarylethenes with an additional “stiff”\ncyclohexenol ring undergo various types of tandem transformations\nlaunched by light-induced 6π-photocyclization. Among these,\nthere are two novel reactions (formal [1,3]-H migration and complete\naromatization to an anthracene derivative) as well as photorearrangement\nand formal methane elimination. This diverse reactivity demonstrates\nthe great potential of <i>semi</i>-<i>stiff</i>-diarylethenes in synthetic photochemistry.