Low-tempereture photolysis of diazoketones: the conformational isomerism of benzoylphenylmethylene and the IR spectrum of anthronylidene

Low-temperature photolysis of benzoylphenyldiazomethane, 1, and diazoanthrone, 2, in the polycrystal phase resulted in the high-intensity ESR spectra of benxoylphenymethylene 1a and anthronylidene 2a, respectively. Photolyses of argon matrix-isolated 1 and 2, coupled with IR spectroscopy, have now been carried out. Photolysis of 1 yielded the IR spectrum of diphenylketene as the only IR-observable product and indicated the presence in the matrix of the two s-E, s-Z, isomers of 1. On the other hand, photolysis of 2 yielded the IR spectrum of carbene 2a as the only observable product.