Interaction of carbonyl triplets with aliphatic amines

Abstract

The photochemistry of several amine + carbonyl compound systems has been studied in the gas phase and in solution. It is concluded that a radical-like process takes place in the former; the results suggest that hydrogen abstraction from N—H bonds probably takes place. The rate constants in the gas phase are considerably lower than in solution. The rate constants for the smaller amines in solution (m.w. ⩽ 100) cannot be correlated using only the ionization potentials, and steric effects are likely to be of importance.