4,5-Di-tert-butyl-1,3,6,8-tetraphenyl-4,5,8a,8b-tetrahydro-as-indacene

Reaction of triplet O2 with the bridged dipotassium dicyclopentadienyl salt, ansa-[(CHBut)2(Ph2C5H2)2]K2(THF)3 1, in dry MeCN facilitated an intramolecular cyclopentadienyl ring-C to ring-C bond formation and the precipitation of the crude product 4,5-di-tert-butyl-1,3,6,8-tetraphenyl-4,5,8a,8b-tetrahydro-as-indacene 2 as an off-white solid in a 73% yield (>95% pure, 1H NMR). Characterization of 2 was carried out using multinuclear NMR spectroscopy (1H and 13C), single-crystal X-ray crystallography, FTIR spectroscopy, and thermal analytical techniques (SDT, DSC). The molecular structure consisted of a rigid, C2-symmetric six-membered ring in a chair conformation with four of the ring-C atoms fused to 1,3-diphenylcyclopentadiene rings and the other two ring-C atoms substituted with trans di-axial But groups.