An unsolvated buckycatcher and its first dianion.

The X-ray crystallographic study of C60H28 consisting of two tethered corannulene bowls revealed a unique solid-state packing based on tight convex-concave π-π interactions. The controlled reduction of C60H28 resulted in the isolation and structural characterization of its dianion in the form of the rubidium salt that shows an entrapment of counterions by an anionic pincer.

2-Trimethylsilylcorannulenyl trifluoromethanesulfonate: an efficient precursor for 1,2-didehydrocorannulene.

2-Trimethylsilylcorannulenyl trifluoromethanesulfonate, prepared from bromocorannulene, provides a means for generating of 1,2-didehydrocorannulene (corannulyne) under very mild conditions as demonstrated by the high-yield formation of its adducts with dienes.

Isocorannulenofuran: a versatile building block for the synthesis of large buckybowls.

Isocorannulenofuran, synthesized in two steps from accessible bromocorannulene, gives Diels-Alder adducts with benzynes which can be deoxygenated to produce large polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) combining the bowl-shaped corannulene subunit with planar fragments. [reaction: see text]

The first buckybowl aryne. Corannulyne: a nonplanar benzyne.

[reaction: see text] Treatment of bromocorannulene with NaNH(2)/tBuOK in THF in the presence of furans or amines leads to formation of addition products in good yields, presumably through formation of 1,2-didehydrocorannulene (corannulyne). HDFT calculations predict that corannulyne exists as a bowl-shaped entity and that the didehydrogenation energy of corannulene is slightly lower than that of benzene.

Novel twin corannulene: synthesis and crystal structure determination of a dicorannulenobarrelene dicarboxylate.

[reaction: see text] The dicorannulenobarrelene 1 was synthesized with the final step achieved by a nickel-mediated fourfold intramolecular coupling of dibromomethyl with bromomethyl groups. Low-temperature (1)H NMR spectra of 1 show a presence of three conformers with approximate populations of 0.82:0.13:0.05, in good agreement with theoretical predictions. In the crystal, 1 incorporates two CCl(4) molecules and adopts the bis-exo conformation.

Formation of the corannulene core by nickel-mediated intramolecular coupling of benzyl and benzylidene bromides: a versatile synthesis of dimethyl 1,2-corannulene dicarboxylate.

[reaction: see text] A practical synthesis of dimethyl 1,2-corannulene dicarboxylate (5) is reported, with the final ring-forming step achieved by the double intramolecular nickel powder mediated coupling of benzyl and benzylidene bromide groups with 60% isolated yield.

Addition of organolithium reagents to corannulene and conformational preferences in 1-alkyl-1,2-dihydrocorannulenes.

Addition of organolithium reagents to corannulene (1) produces 1-R-1,2-dihydrocorannulenes (2), which can be easily converted to 1-R-corannulenes (3). Molecular mechanics (MM) calculations predict a slight pseudoequatorial preference for the small substituents in both exo and endo arrangements of 2, whereas bulky substituents are expected to favor strongly the exo-pseudoaxial location. X-ray diffraction studies show the exo-pseudoaxial conformation in the solid state for both i-Pr and t-Bu-2. In solution, a gradual increase in the contribution of pseudoequatorial conformations with decreasing size of the substituent is demonstrated by analysis of the (3)J H-H coupling constants within the reduced ring.