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Updated: Jun 2, 2026

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Rubidium-mediated birch-type reduction of 1,2-diphenylbenzene in tetrahydrofuran
Sven Krieck1, Robert Kretschmer, Helmar Görls
1Institut für Chemie/Bereich Anorganische Chemie, Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz, Schubertstrasse 1, A-8010 Graz, Austria.
Abstract:
The reaction of 1,2-diphenylbenzene with rubidium metal in THF yields extremely sensitive and pyrophoric [η(5)-{1,2-diphenyl-2,5-cyclohexadienyl}rubidium](∞) (1). Compound 1 characterizes a possible intermediate in a Birch-type reaction and represents a very rare example of a fully characterized organorubidium complex as well as an open main-group metal pentadienide as part of a six-membered ring. In the solid state the rubidium atoms interact with the cyclohexadienyl moiety, whereas the coordination sphere of the soft cation is additionally stabilized exclusively by several metal π-arene interactions despite the presence of strongly coordinating donors. The bonding situation was elucidated by MP2/def2-TZVPP calculations including population analysis.
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