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Second-order rate constants (k(Nu)) have been measured for the addition of amines to ketenes 4-6 in acetonitrile solution by the laser flash photolysis technique. These ketenes are formed from a photochemical Wolff rearrangement of diazoketones 1-3, respectively. For all diazoketones studied, the presence of amines as nucleophiles in the reaction medium results in the formation of an intermediate that later converts to the amide. The rate of formation of these intermediates is linearly dependent on amine concentration. Various classes of amines, such as primary, secondary, and tertiary, aromatic, and aliphatic, have been used to investigate the ketene reactivity, and rate constants in the range 10(4)-10(9) M(-1) s(-1) have been measured. Reaction rates are dependent upon steric effects in both the ketene and the nucleophile, which is consistent with a reaction mechanism involving nucleophilic attack at Calpha in the molecular plane of the ketene. On the basis of these data, a set of N(+) parameters for the reaction of amines with ketenes was determined.