Nitrenes reactivity

E. F. V. Scriven, ed., Azides and Nitrenes Reactivity and Utility, Academic Press, Orlando, FL, 1984. 

Simple MO pictures also explain the differences in the bond dissociation energies (BDE) of methane and ammonia, and explain different triplet carbene and nitrene reactivities toward hydrogen atom donors. 

Although this chapter is primarily concerned with the functionalization of unactivated sp C—bonds by nitrene insertion, other relevant aspects of nitrene chemistry are included. Thus the brief section on nitrene reactivity highlights the rearrangement reactions which often compete with C—insertion, and the final section covers insertion into s[ C—bonds, since many of these reactions have found wide use in recent years in the synthesis of natural products. 

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