The Wolff rearrangement is a reaction in organic chemistry in which an α-diazocarbonyl compound is converted into a ketene by loss of dinitrogen with accompanying 1,2-rearrangement. The Wolff rearrangement yields a ketene as an intermediate product, which can undergo nucleophilic attack with weakly acidic nucleophiles such as water, alcohols, and amines, to generate carboxylic acid derivatives or undergo [2+2] cycloaddition reactions to form four-membered rings. The mechanism of the Wolff rearrangement has been the subject of debate since its first use. No single mechanism sufficiently describes the reaction, and there are often competing concerted and carbene-mediated pathways; for simplicity, only the textbook, concerted mechanism is shown below. The reaction was discovered by Ludwig Wolff in 1902. The Wolff rearrangement has great synthetic utility due to the accessibility of α-diazocarbonyl compounds, variety of reactions from the ketene intermediate, and stereochemical retention of the migrating group. However, the Wolff rearrangement has limitations due to the highly reactive nature of α-diazocarbonyl compounds, which can undergo a variety of competing reactions. The Wolff rearrangement can be induced via thermolysis, photolysis, or transition metal catalysis. In this last case, the reaction is sensitive to the transition metal; silver (I) oxide or other Ag(I) catalysts work well and are generally used. The Wolff rearrangement has been used in many total syntheses; the most common use is trapping the ketene intermediate with nucleophiles to form carboxylic acid derivatives. The Arndt-Eistert homologation is a specific example of this use, wherein a carboxylic acid may be elongated by a methylene unit. Another common use is in ring-contraction methods; if the α-diazo ketone is cyclic, the Wolff rearrangement results in a ring-contracted product. The Wolff rearrangement works well in generating ring-strained systems, where other reactions may fail. History In 1902, Wolff discovered that treating diazoacetophenone with silver (I) oxide and water resulted in formation of phenylacetic acid. Similarly, treatment with silver (I) oxide and ammonia formed phenylacetamide. A few years later, in an independent study, Schröter observed similar results. The reaction is occasionally called the Wolff-Schröter rearrangement. The Wolff rearrangement was not commonly used until 20 years after it was discovered, as facile diazo ketone synthesis was unknown until the 1930s. The reaction has proven useful in synthetic organic chemistry and many reviews have been published. Mechanism The mechanistic pathway of the Wolff-rearrangement has been the subject of much debate, as there are often competing concerted and stepwise mechanisms. However,