Photolysis of 3-Bromo-3-methyldiazirine

Article abstract of DOI:10.1021/j150668a010

The photolysis at 354 nm of 3-bromo-3-methyldiazirine in gas phase has been studied.After a careful search of the various possibilities we have found that all available evidence points toward the intermediary formation of hot vinyl bromide, presumably via isomerization of the corresponding carbene.Its unimolecular decomposition can take place by two different paths: one is the molecular detachment of HBr and the other the radical scission of the C-Br bond.This last way of radical formation is responsible for the apparently confusing experimental data.According to our result the activation energy for the radical decomposition is closer to that of the molecular detachment than previously thought.