High-pressure photodimerization of a naphthalene derivative

Abstract

An applied pressure of 2000 bars (1 bar = 10⁵ Pa ≡ 0.9869 atm) has been found to double the rate of photodimerization of methyl 3-methoxy-2- naphthoate in solution in toluene and in methanol at 20°C. The acceleration corresponds to an average activation volume between 1 and 2000 bars of ΔV^‡_av ≈ -10 cm³ mol^-1, and is much less than the known acceleration, under similar conditions, of analogous thermal reactions.