New mechanisms and methods in carbene and nitrene chemistry (2004-2006)

Carbenes and nitrenes are highly reactive intermediates of theoretical and mechanistic significance and synthetic versatility in organic chemistry. In spite of high reactivity selective and high-yielding reactions can be performed leading to products that may be difficult or impossible to synthesise by other methods. They have practical applications in photo-affinity labelling of biomolecules and photolithography. This project will contribute fundamental knowledge of the nature and reactions of these species by using direct spectroscopic observation. We are proposing the occurrence of novel types of reactions and the formation of several new reactive intermediates as well as a technique for the stabilization of reactive intermediates by incorporation into macrocyclic frameworks.