V VI VI1 intermediates. A mechanistic scheme which accounts for the results is formulated in Scheme I. A comparison of the acetolysis rates shows that Ia-OBs reacts 117 times faster than IIa-OBs. The significantly higher reactivity of Ia-OBs can be attributed plausibly to anchimeric assistance to ionization at Cs by the-N= N-group. In the case of IIa-OBs geometry is unfavorable for such assistance. Further support for assistance is found in the ...