The Dendralenes—a Neglected Group of Highly Unsaturated Hydrocarbons

Abstract

Abstract Dendralenes are acyclic and cyclic cross‐conjugated polyolefins derived from 3‐methylene‐1,4‐pentadiene. This review summarizes and compares, for the first time, the methods developed for the synthesis of this class of hydrocarbons. Because of their particular arrangement of π‐electrons, the dendralenes are novel substrates for addition and rearrangement reactions, and model compounds for spectroscopic studies.