The reaction of a stable aminoarylcarbene with 2-chloroacrylonitrile is reported. The resulting, 1/1 adduct has been spectroscopically and structurally characterized. The initial Michael addition is not followed by cyclopropane formation but by a dearomatizing cyclization affording an original bicyclic Structure. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Transient Azomethine-ylides from a Stable Amino-carbene and an Aldiminium Salt
isomerization of a stable amino-aryl-carbene into a transient azomethineylide. Deprotonation of an alkyl-aldiminium salt also leads to a transient azomethineylide, but labeling experiments rule out the transient formation of the corresponding amino-alkyl-carbene. The potential hypersurface between model amino-carbene, aziridine, and azomethineylide is investigated.