Photochemical reactions of a diamidocarbene: cyclopropanation of bromonaphthalene, addition to pyridine, and activation of sp 3 C-H bonds.

We report unprecedented photochemistry for the diamidocarbene 1. Described within are the double cyclopropanation of 1-bromonaphthalene, the double addition to pyridine, and remarkably, the insertion into the unactivated sp 3 C-H bonds of cyclohexane, tetramethylsilane, and n -pentane to give compounds 2-6, respectively. All compounds have been fully characterized, and the solid state structure of 4 was obtained using single crystal electron diffraction.