Chemistry:Ketenimines

Short description: Class of chemical compounds

General structure of a ketenimine

Ketenimines are a group of organic compounds sharing a common functional group with the general structure R¹R²C=C=NR³. A ketenimine is a cumulated alkene and imine and is related to an allene and a ketene.

The parent compound is ketenimine or CH₂CNH. The most recent work by Bane et al. investigates the rovibrational structure of the ν₈ and ν₁₂ bands in the high-resolution FTIR spectrum, complementing the earlier analysis of the pure rotational spectrum. This pair of Coriolis coupled bands provide a rare example where intensity sharing between bands yields sufficient intensity for an otherwise invisible band (ν₁₂).