New reactions of a dibenzo[a,e]pentalene

Reduction of dibenzo[a,e]pentalene 3 (denoted as dibenzopentalene hereafter) with excess lithium gave dilithium dibenzopentalenide 1. Since oxidation of 1 with iodine gave 3, redox behavior between 1 and 3 is controllable and reversible. Reaction of 3 with methyllithium gave lithium 5-methyldibenzopentalenide 5, the formation of which was evidenced by some trapping experiments and X-ray crystallographic analysis. Reactions of 3 with halogens gave 5,10-dihalodibenzopentalenes, 8 and 9. Some optical properties of novel dibenzopentalene derivatives are also demonstrated.