Reinvestigation of the Chemistry of Arylcarbenes in Polycrystalline Alcohols at 77 K. Secondary Photochemistry of Matrix-Isolated Carbenes

Article abstract of DOI:10.1021/ja00284a049

Photolysis of diphenyldiazomethane (DPDM) in frozen alcoholic matrices gives ground-state triplet diphenylcarbene (DPC).At 77 K ³DPC reacts primarily with alcohols by OH insertion to give ethers.Photolysis of ³DPC produces an excited carbene ³DPC^* which reacts with the matrix by H-atom abstraction to ultimately give alcohol-type products.Secondary photolysis of triplet fluorenylidene at 77 K is not as prevalent as that of ³DPC.