PROTON-MOBILITY IN THE INDENE RING-SYSTEM. III. KINETICS OF THE BASE- CATALYZED HYDROGEN EXCHANGE BETWEEN INDENE AND D$sub 2$O, AND THE EXISTENCE OF INTRAMOLECULAR PROTON-TRANSFER

Hydrogen exchange between indene and D/sub 2/O occurs at room temperature in pyridine solution with triethylamine as a catalyst. The exchange rate, obeying pseudo-firstorder kinetics, was studied by the NMR-technique. The hydrogen atoms in the 1- and 3-positions of the indene molecule are substituted by deuterium, but in addition to this exchange reaction there is a rapid base- catalyzed proton-transfer between the 1- and 3-positions. The latter reaction could be studied separately using mono-deuteroindene. (auth) Some rotational lines of the ground-state molecules were identified that permitted determination, in a first order approximation, of the rotational constants and the centrifugal distontion coefficients. These values were used to recalculate the frequencies of the rotational transitions. Thc calculated values are in satisfactory agreement with the observed values, considering the approximation used. (tr- auth)