Wolff rearrangement

The Wolff rearrangement is a chemical reaction in which are obtained from diazo compounds having a carbonyl group in adjacent position to the diazo group ketenes:

The reaction can be photochemically under the influence of UV radiation, run by exposure to heat or thermally catalyzed by heavy metals ( Ag 2 O ). The ketenes can be further reacted directly, depending on the reaction conditions or isolated in substance.

The rearrangement of the α - diazo ketones, after its discoverer, the German chemist Ludwig Wolff (1857 - 1919), named.