Photoreactivities of the Antiseptics Dehydroacetic Acid and Sodium Dehydroacetate Used in Cosmetics

Dehydroacetic acid (1) was found to induce photoisomerization, converting aldrin (3) and dieldrin (4) into photoaldrin (5) and photodieldrin (6), respectively, not only when irradiated with artificial light at wavelengths longer than 290 nm in air but also when exposed to sunlight in air. By contrast, sodium dehydroacetate (2) induced both photoisomerization, primarily converting 3 to 5 and photoepoxidation, partially forming 6. Thus, because 2 is usually used as a water-soluble antiseptic, photo-erethism might occur due to the isomerization and epoxidation properties of this compound. The difference between the photoreactivity of 1 and that of 2 might be attributed to the spin density of the odd electron on the carbon atom in the respective radicals that were formed after photo-excited 1 and 2 caused H-abstraction.