Fluorenylidene (2) forms unstable ylides with solvents such as acetone and a~ etonitrile.**~ In this work we investigate the photochemistry of the carbonyl ylide 3 formed by reaction of 2 with acetone in order to compare its photochemical and thermal decay processes. Ylide 3 was produced by nitrogen laser excitation (A= 337.1 nm,-8 ns,< lo mJ/pulse) of deaerated 1 XM solutions of diazofluorene (1) in acetone at room temperature (Scheme I). The ...