In 2, 3-dihydro-2-(2-hydroxyphenyl)-l, 3-dimethyl-l~-benzimidazole (3), the acidic hydrogen of a phenolic oxygen-hydrogen bond is near a carbon-hydrogen bond activated as a donor of hydride by two adjacent lone pairs in a dihydro aromatic ring. This juxtaposition does not promote the formation of molecular hydrogen. Instead, thermolysis of compound 3 appears to lead to tautomerization of the hydroxyphenyl group and heterolysis of the carbon- ...
[Matsubara, Yasuo; Fujita, Etsuko; Doherty, Mark D.; Muckerman, James T.; Creutz, Carol Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2012 , vol. 134, # 38 p. 15743 - 15757,15]