3-Methyl-3 -ethyldiazirine, photolysis

The methylethylcarbene which is formed thermally from methyl-ethyldiazirine at 160°C gives the same products as that from butanone p-toluenesulfonylhydrazone and bases in aprotic solvents." However, photolysis of the same diazirine gives a different mixture of C4H8 hydrocarbons. Considerable amounts of 1-butene are formed, the trans-butene content is reduced by half, and the amount of methyl cyclopropane increased fivefold. ... 

Only preliminary work on this compound is at present available. Pyrolysis of 3,3 -diethyldiazirine yields cis- and hydrocarbon products, together with small amounts of ethyl-cyclopropane and a trace of 2-methylbut-2-ene. The photolysis yields the same compounds (together with a trace of 2-methylbut-l-ene) but with somewhat different ratios. Once again, as in the case of the methyl-ethyldiazirine, the photolysis yields higher relative amounts of the less stable isomers. The results are shown in Table II. The relative yields... 

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