In order to investigate the reactivity of a photolytically generated arylnitrene with an intramolecular CH bond, the photochemistry of 2-(w-phenylalkyl) phenyl azides (la-d) was examined. Irradiation of 1 in solution revealed that the insertion of the nitrene into an adjacent CH bond to give cyclic compounds 4 and 6 occurs favorably only when a reactive CH bond, such as benzylic, is located close to the nitrenic center. This process can ...
[Saito, Kodai; Shibata, Yukihiro; Yamanaka, Masahiro; Akiyama, Takahiko Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2013 , vol. 135, # 32 p. 11740 - 11743]