Palladium-Catalyzed Decarboxylative Annulation of 2-Arylbenzoic Acids with [60]Fullerene via C–H Bond Activation

Abstract

A convenient and highly efficient palladium-catalyzed decarboxylative annulation of 2-arylbenzoic acids with [60]fullerene has been exploited to synthesize the novel and scarce [60]fullerene-fused dihydrophenanthrenes. The use of Lewis acid ZnCl2 is crucial for the success of the present formal [4 + 2] annulation reaction. Plausible reaction pathways leading to the observed products have been proposed, and the electrochemistry of the fullerene products has also been investigated.