Illustrated Glossary of Organic Chemistry

Diazomethane: An explosive, yellowish gas of molecular formula CH2N2 and the molecular structure shown below. Diazomethane has many uses, but is perhaps most commonly encountered as a reactant to convert a carboxylic acid into the corresponding methyl ester.

Diazomethane resonance contributors.


Use of diazomethane to produce a methyl ester. Benzoic acid (PhCO2H; a carboxylic acid) reacts with diazomethane to produce methyl benzoate (PhCO2CH3; a methyl ester) and nitrogen gas.