Light as a “green” source of energy has become increasingly attractive throughout the past century and has shown versatility for the application of activating chemical reactions. Compared with traditional energy sources, it provides a more direct, selective and controllable method. My PhD study was focused on the study of photochemistry of organic materials in two different systems. The first system is regarding reversible photoacids which generate protons on irradiation. With the aim of systematically studying these novel types of long lived photoacids, a series of photoacids was designed, synthesized and whose chemical mechanism was thoroughly investigated. This type of photoacid changes from a weak acid to a strong acid with a pH change of several units, which achieves nearly complete proton dissociation upon visible light irradiation. The whole process is reversible and the half-life of the proton-dissociation state is long enough to be used in many applications. Besides fundamental studies, different applications based on this type of photoacids were also completed. An esterification reaction was catalyzed and the volume of a pH-sensitive polymer was altered due to the large amount of photo generated protons from this photoacid. A reversible electrical conductivity change of polyaniline (PANI) was also achieved by doping with this reversible photoacid. In order to induce a large conductivity increase, an irreversible photoacid generator (PAG) was embedded in a novel PANI/PAG/PVA novel composition. In this system, Poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) forms a hydrogen-bonding network to facilitate proton transfer between the PAG and PANI. A final electrical conductivity of 10-1 S cm-1 was successfully achieved after irradiation. The second system in which I explored photochemistry of organic molecules concerns Photoretro-Diels-Alder (PrDA) reactions and a variety of Diels-Alder (DA) adducts were designed for these studies. UV light was used to trigger the retro-Diels-Alder reactions. Quantum yield of iv each DA adducts was investigated. This revealed that the photo-reactivity of this process depends on the electron-donating ability of the diene and the electron-withdrawing ability of the dienophile component. Mechanistic studies of this PrDA reaction reveal that a charge-separated intermediate is generated from a singlet excited state. This was applied to an unsaturated cyclic α-diketones (DKs), which underwent PrDA reactions and generated anthracene derivatives and carbon monoxide (CO), which itself plays profound and important roles in biological systems. These unsaturated cyclic α-diketones (DKs) encapsulated in micelles are effective CO-releasing molecules (CORMs) and are capable of carrying and releasing CO in cellular systems. This novel type of organic CORMs has potentially low toxicity and generates fluorescence, which provides a useful tool for the study of the biological functions of CO.

En vue d’effectuer des préparations sélectives de composés hétérocycliques, une étude de la synthèse et de la réactivité de 7-oxanorborna-2,5-diènes portant des groupes électroattracteurs différents sur les positions 2 et 3 a été réalisée. Ces composés sont des formes masquées de composés acétyléniques dissymétriques.Dans un premier temps, nous avons optimisé une nouvelle méthode de synthèse sélective d’acétylènedicarboxylates dissymétriques par mono-transestérification d’acétylènedicarboxylates de dialkyle symétriques avec des alcools en présence de la lipase de Candida rugosa. Cette méthode nous a permis d’obtenir les diesters dissymétriques avec de bons rendements et une haute sélectivité a priori inattendue.Dans un second temps, nous avons développé des synthèses régiosélectives de dérivés de l’acide 7-oxanorborna-2,5-diène-2,3-dicarboxylique selon deux stratégies. Dans une première approche, une réaction de Diels-Alder intramoléculaire entre un furane et un composé acétylénique reliés par une agrafe siliciée a été réalisée, suivie d’une coupure des liaisons Si-C. Cette cycloaddition [4+2] s’effectue uniquement en présence de MeAlCl2 avec des rendements moyens. Dans certains cas, la coupure des liaisons Si-C conduit aux diesters désirés. Dans une deuxième approche, une mono-saponification d’oxanorbornadiène-2,3-dicarboxylates de dialkyle a permis d’accéder régiosélectivement à des monoacides et des réactions de couplage avec des amines ou des alcools ont conduit sélectivement à des dérivés présentant deux groupes électroattracteurs différents.Dans une dernière partie, nous avons effectué la préparation régiosélective de 3-pyrrolines par cycloaddition [2+3] d’un ylure d’azométhine suivie d’une réaction de rétro-Diels-Alder à partir des 7-oxanorbornadiènes comportant deux groupes électroattracteurs différents. La préparation aisée de 3-pyrrolines condensées non décrites dans la littérature a été obtenue par formation inattendue d’un motif succinimide dans le cas des amidoesters.En conclusion, il apparaît que la présence du groupe éthyle en tête de pont des 7-oxanorborna-2,5-diènes semble suffisante pour contrôler la régiosélectivité de ces cycloadditions. / In order to selectively prepare heterocyclic compounds, a study of the synthesis and reactivity of 7-oxanorborna-2,5-dienes with different electron-withdrawing groups on the 2 and 3 positions was performed. These compounds are masked forms of unsymmetrical acetylenic compounds. At first, we have optimized a new method for the selective synthesis of unsymmetrical diesters by transesterification of symmetrical dialkyl acetylenedicarboxylates in the presence of Candida rugosa lipase. This unexpectedly highly selective method allowed us to obtain unsymmetrical acetylenedicarboxylates in good yields.In a second part, we have developed a regioselective synthesis of 7-oxanorborna-2,5-diene-2,3-dicarboxylic acid derivatives according to two strategies. In one approach, an intramolecular Diels-Alder reaction between a furan and an acetylenic compound connected by silicon-containing tethers was performed, followed by a cleavage of the Si-C bonds. This [4+2] cycloaddition was carried in the presence of a Lewis acid, only MeAlCl2 gave the expected product and so in moderate yields. In most cases, the cleavage of Si-C bonds leads to the desired diesters. In a second approach, a mono-saponification of dialkyl oxanorbornadiene-2,3-dicarboxylates provided access regioselectively to mono-acids and coupling reactions with amines or alcohols selectively led to poly-functionalized products containing two different electron-withdrawing groups.In the last part, we have regioselectively prepared 3-pyrrolines by [2+3] cycloaddition of an azomethine ylide to 7-oxanorbornadienes bearing electroattracting groups followed by a retro-Diels-Alder reaction. An easy synthesis of previously unknown condensed 3-pyrrolines was obtained by formation of an unexpected succinimide pattern from amidoesters. In conclusion, it appears that the presence of an ethyl group on the bridgehead carbon atom of 7-oxanorborna-2,5-dienes seems sufficient to control the regioselectivity of these cycloadditions.