The oxygen rearrangement of aromatic and unsaturated esters under electron‐impact—I: General regularities of the rearrangement

Abstract

Abstract Some esters of γ, δ‐unsaturated or β‐arylsubstituted acids undergo a peculiar transformation under electron‐impact including an elimination of the alcohol residue as a radical R. with the following loss of the ketene molecule. One of the oxygen atoms of the carbonyl group enters an ion which is formed from an unsaturated part of the molecule. The possible mechanism of this reaction and the influence of structural modifications on the course of this process are discussed.