Abstract The unsubstituted and p-substituted benzoates 2b–2e of 3-dimethylamino-2, 2bis (p- nitrophenyl)-propanol (2a) undergo quantitative fragmentation in 80% ethanol yielding 1, 1- bis (p-nitrophenyl)-ethylene (5) besides formaldehyde and dimethylamine, the hydrolysis products of the imonium ion 3. The corresponding alcohol 2a, however, yields 2, 2-bis (p- nitrophenyl)-ethanol (9) in addition to fragmentation products. Conversely, no ...