Substituent Effect in Photochemistry of ${\beta}-Ethoxy-{\alpha}-halopropiophenones$

Photochemical reactivities of ${\beta}-ethoxypropiophenones$ are changed dramatically by putting a halogen at a position to the carbonyl functionality. ${\alpha}-Bromo-{\beta}-ethoxypropiophenone$ gives C-Br bond cleavage products solely, but ${\alpha}-chloro-{\beta}-ethoxypropiophenone$ forms mainly the Yang photocyclization products upon irradiation. The different reactivities of two compounds can be explained by relative rates of C-X bond cleavage and a-hydrogen abstraction.