The Li(+)-Initiated Twofold Dehydrogenation and C-C Bond Formation of Hexaphenylbenzene to the Dilithium Salt of the 9,10-Diphenyltetrabenz

Abstract

Partly solvent-separated and partly solvent-shared, the contact ion triple of the 9,10-diphenyltetrabenz[a,c,h,j]anthracene dianion is formed by the ultrasonically activated reaction of hexaphenylbenzene with lithium metal powder in 1,2-dimethoxyethane (dme) [Eq. (1)]. The proposed microscopic pathway for this reaction-twofold dehydrogenation and C-C bond formation-is supported by quantum-chemical calculations.