Abstract
The laser-induced chemistry of 3-buten-l-ol (1), 3-butyn-l-ol (2), 3,4-pentadien-l-ol (3), 2-isopropenyl-5- methylcyclohexanol (Z-isopulegol; 4), and l,5-hexadien-3-ol (5) is described. Retro-ene reactions occur in all cases, though with compound 5 a competitive oxy-Cope reaction is also observed. The reactions are generally clean and give rise to conversions in the range of 48-78% after 300-500 pulses. In these reactions between 2-10 photons are absorbed per molecule per pulse, and in some instances as much as 40% conversion is obtained after five pulses. The laser-induced chemistry seems to follow the known thermal chemistries of these systems.