DIRECT OBSERVATION OF CORRELATION BETWEEN CRYSTALLINE-STATE DEUTERIUMTRANSFER AND RACEMIZATION OF 1-CYANOETHYLCOBALOXIME COMPLEX BY NEUTRON-DIFFRACTION

The [(R)-l-cyanoethyl-d(alpha)] group, which has a deuterium atom atta ched to the chiral carbon and is bonded to the cobalt atom, in a cobal oxime complex with pyridine as an axial base ligand is inverted to the opposite configuration on exposure to visible light with retention of the single crystal form. The C-D bond is not cleaved in the process o f the inversion.