Radicals derived from N-(α-xanthyl) acetanilides or N-(α-xanthyl) acetylaminopyridines possessing a substituent next to the nitrogen undergo a hitherto undocumented Smiles rearrangement proceeding through a four-membered ring. It was also found that under certain conditions the amidyl radical produced by cleavage of the four-membered ring intermediate can undergo fragmentation to give an isocyanate. Such fragmentations are ...