Imidazoles are not formed by photolysis of the N, N-disubstituted enaminonitriles, 2- (dimethylamino)-l-cyclo-hexene-1-carbonitrile (7) and 3-(dimethylamino) acrylonitrile (5). These results show that the enaminonitrile must contain an NH group for the photochemical formation of the imidazole to proceed. N-Isopropyldiaminomaleonitrile (1 1) did not photodissociate to yield aminocyanocarbene (4) as shown by the absence of ...
