Photoenolization as a convenient driver for the synthesis of plasmonic nanostructures

Substituted tetralones such as 3,3,6,8-tetramethyl-1-tetralone undergo photoenolization to produce a photoenol excited state with a lifetime around ~ 3 μs, which involves the carbonyl triplet state of the ketone (τ ~ 1.9 ns), as a precursor; the excited photoenol also has biradical character and is useful for the fast synthesis of gold nanostructures. In the case of excited photoenols like this one, if metal ion trapping fails, they return to the original ketone precursor and remain available for future events that can lead to the target nanoparticles. This study includes the characterization of the photochemistry of the substituted tetralone, and the dual behavior of reaction intermediates, as biradicals and excited states, in energy and electron transfer processes.