Study of singlet and triplet 2,6-difluorophenylnitrene by time-resolved infrared spectroscopy

The solution-phase photochemistry of 2,6-difluorophenyl azide was studied by time-resolved infrared (TRIR) spectroscopy. A vibrational band of singlet 2,6-difluorophenyl nitrene (1N) was observed at 1404 cm(-1) between 243 and 283 K. At ambient temperature, it was not possible to detect this intermediate. At 298 K, only the decay products of the singlet nitrene, the isomerized products ketenimine (K) and triplet-2,6-difluorophenyl nitrene (3N), were observed at 1576 and 1444 cm(-1), respectively. The assignments are consistent with density functional theory calculations and previous studies of this system by laser flash photolysis techniques with UV-visible detection.