The competition between rearrangement of the excited allyl radical via a 1,3 sigmatropic shift versus sequential 1,2 shifts has been observed and characterized using isotopic substitution, laser excitation, and molecular beam techniques. Both rearrangements produce a 1-propenyl radical that subsequently dissociates to methyl plus acetylene. The 1,3 shift and 1,2 shift mechanisms are equally probable for CH(2)CHCH(2), whereas the 1,3 shift is favored by a factor of 1.6 in CH(2)CDCH(2). The translational energy distributions for the methyl and acetylene products of these two mechanisms are substantially different. Both of these allyl dissociation channels are minor pathways compared to hydrogen atom loss.

The thermal decomposition of azidoacetone (CH3COCH2N3) was studied using a combined experimental and computational approach. Flash pyrolysis at a range of temperatures (296-1250 K) was used to induce thermal decomposition, and the resulting products were expanded into a molecular beam and subsequently analyzed using electron bombardment ionization coupled to a quadrupole mass spectrometer. The advantages of this technique are that the parent molecules spend a very short time in the pyrolysis zone (20-30 mus) and that the subsequent expansion permits the stabilization of thermal products that are not observable using conventional pyrolysis methods. A detailed analysis of the mass spectra as a function of pyrolysis temperature revealed the participation of five thermal decomposition channels. Ab initio calculations on the stable structures and transition states of the azidoacetone system in combination with an analysis of the dissociative ionization pattern of each channel allowed the identity and mechanism of each channel to be elucidated. At low temperatures (296-800 K) the azide decomposes principally by the loss of N2 to yield the imine (CH3COCHNH), which can further decompose to CH3CO and CHNH. At low and intermediate temperatures a process involving the loss of N2 to yield CH3CHO and HCN is also open. Finally, at high temperatures (800-1250 K) a channel in which the azide decomposes to a stable cyclic amine (CO(CH2)2NH) (after loss of N2) is active. The last channel involves subsequent thermal decomposition of this cyclic amine to ketene (H2CCO) and methanimine (H2CNH).

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