You can idle a gas engine on diesel but that's all you can do with it.

I believe diesel has a lower octane rating than gasoline. And it also burns easily when in vapor form so it will predetonate extremely quick, which is why they inject diesel into an engine instead of using wet vapor manifolds.
That also should explain why your rotary took a dump when you ran diesel through it. Those seals are fragile while easily destroyed by preignition.