Radical Anion of Nitrile Ylide by Dual Beam Irradiation of 3-(4-Biphenylyl)-2H-azirine at Low Temperature

Photolysis and the successive γ-radiolysis of 3-(4-biphenylyl)-2H-azirine at 77 K resulted in the formation of a novel intermediate with an absorption maximum at 425 nm, which was produced by one-electron reduction of the nitrile ylide. The intermediate was also produced by photochemical ring-opening of the azirine radical anion.