A new class of potential antitumor agents inspired by the enediyne antitumor antibiotics has been synthesized: the 1, 2-dialkynylimidazoles. The aza-Bergman rearrangement of these 1, 2-dialkynylimidazoles has been investigated theoretically at the B3LYP/6-31G (d, p) level and experimentally by measuring the kinetics of rearrangement in 1, 4-cyclohexadiene. There is a good correlation between the theoretical and experimental results; subtle ...