Chemical Physics Letters, Vol.443, No.4-6, 323-327, 2007
On the cleavage process of the N-trifluoromethylsulfonyloxy-1,8-naphthalimide photoacid generator
The photocleavage mechanism of N-tritluoromethylsulfonyloxy-1,8-naphthalimide usable as a photoacid generator is reported. Stationary fluorescence measurements, picosecond transient spectroscopy, infrared analysis and DFT calculations support a homolytic N-O bond cleavage followed by an internal cyclic rearrangement of the 1,8 naphthalimide core which lead to benz[cd]indol-2(1H)-one, carbon dioxide and sulfonic acid. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.