Photochemical behaviour of 5-perfluoroalkenyl uracils

Phototransformations of derivatives of 5-fluoroalkenyl uracils depend strongly on the fluorinated substituents. 1,3-Dimethyl-5-trifluorovinyluracil when irradiated in water with UV light (λ>300 nm) gives 1,3-dimethyl-(5,6-dihydrourac-6-yl)-difluoroacetic acid as the only product, while the analogous 1,3-dimethyl-5-(E-pentafluoropropenyl)uracil isomerizes to its Z isomer. It is suggested that the first transformation is thermodynamically controlled while the second one is kinetically controlled, the difference being due to torquoselectivity.