b-Hydroxy nitrosamines have been found to undergo a base-induced fragmentation reaction. The reaction cleaves the C,-C, bond of the substrate to produce an aldehyde or ketone and a smaller alkylnitrosamine. Rate constants for the fragmentation induced by potassium tert-butoxide in THF or tert-butyl alcohol have been measured for nine substrates at temperatures between 35 and 70 OC. The rate constants are a function of base ...
