The thermal Wolff rearrangement of phenylbenzoyldiazomethane and its isomeric substituted derivatives VIa-g and VIIa-e (p-OCH3, p-C2H5, p-CH3, pF, p-Cl, p-Br and p-NO2) in di-n-butylether in the presence of amines yields the corresponding diphenylacetamides and desylamines. In the temperature range of 60° to 95° the reaction is kinetically of the first- order for the α-diazoketone. The thermolyses proceeded at approximately the same rates ...