Evidence of a Nitrene Tunneling Reaction: Spontaneous Rearrangement of 2-Formyl Phenylnitrene to an Imino Ketene in Low-Temperature Matrixes

Cláudio M. Nunes, Stephanie N. Knezz, Igor Reva*, Rui Fausto, Robert J. McMahon

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

49 Scopus citations

Abstract

Triplet 2-formyl phenylnitrene was generated by photolysis of 2-formyl phenylazide isolated in Ar, Kr, and Xe matrixes and characterized by IR, UV-vis, and EPR spectroscopies. Upon generation at 10 K, the triplet nitrene spontaneously rearranges in the dark to singlet 6-imino-2,4-cyclohexadien-1-ketene on the time scale of several hours. The intramolecular [1,4] H atom shift from the nitrene to the imino ketene occurs by tunneling, on the triplet manifold, followed by intersystem crossing. This case constitutes the first direct evidence of a tunneling reaction involving a nitrene.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)15287-15290
Number of pages4
JournalJournal of the American Chemical Society
Volume138
Issue number47
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 30 2016

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Catalysis
  • General Chemistry
  • Biochemistry
  • Colloid and Surface Chemistry

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