Oxalyl chloride, peroxyoxalate

In 1965, Rauhut et al. [73] reviewed the oxalyl chloride CL system and showed that oxalyl esters could be used for this system instead of oxalyl chloride. Since then, they synthesized a number of oxalates including oxamides and established a new, potent luminescent system, namely the peroxyoxalate CL (PO CL) system. Much work has been carried out to synthesize suitable oxalic compounds. The first study dealing with different reagents was published in 1967 by Rauhut et al. [98] for the American Cyanamid Company with the purpose of developing... 

This chemiluminescent reaction was suggested as occuring via ring opening of the cyclic carbonate group with subsequent ring closure to the peroxide (2). An alternative is formation of the diperoxy acid (3). Although a relationship to oxalyl chloride and peroxyoxalate chemiluminescence seems reasonable, details of the excitation step are not known. 

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