Hydrazoic acid, imidogen

Imidogen can be generated in the gas phase by photolysis or by pyrolysis of hydrazoic acid (HN3) although other precursors find occasional use. Exposure of HN3 to either 248 or 266-nm light generates NH almost exclusively in its lowest singlet state with a quantum yield near unity. 

Hydrazoic acid is a reagent in the well-known Schmidt reactions in solution, but imidogen is probably not involved in these transformations. Systematic mechanistic studies of the photochemistry of HN3 in solution and the chemistry of NH with hydrocarbons, particularly cis- and trans- alkenes as per the detailed studies of CH2, have not been performed. 

These species are isoelectronic with carbenes. The parent compound is nitrene NH (also known as imidogen, azene, or imene), which is formed when hydrazoic acid is irradiated with UV Hght in an aromatic solvent, which produces a small amount of primary aromatic amine. In the presence of ethylene, nitrene is trapped to form aziridine (Scheme 6.1). Nitrenes are also referred to as derivatives of imidogens as aminyls, azene, azylene, azacarbene, imene, or imines. 

Photodecomposition of the simplest azide, hydrazoic acid (HN3), yields the parent nitrene, imidogen This nitrene can also be produced by thermolysis and multiphoton... 

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See also in sourсe #XX -- [ ]

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