Atomic force microscopy of photochemistry and the Baeyer-Villiger reactionof 4,4 '-dimethylbenzophenone in the solid state

Nanostructures are formed by photodimerization of crystalline 4,4'-dimethyl benzophenone (1) through intermolecular hydrogen abstraction and Baeyer-Vil liger reaction of 1 with m-chloroperoxybenzoic acid (MCPBA) (5) in the soli d state. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) reveals that the crystal face 001) o f 1 during photodimerization exhibits volcanoes, whereas the same face (001 ) of 1 yields both craters and volcanoes all over the surface from the cont act edge of the crystals during the Baeyer-Villiger reaction. All the exper imental results are correlated with the bulk crystal structure. Molecular i nterpretation of the AFM features of 1 is given.