Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 29, 2026

Preparation of a Corannulene-functionalized Hexahelicene by Copper(I)-catalyzed Alkyne-azide Cycloaddition of Nonplanar Polyaromatic Units
Published on: September 18, 2016
Total synthesis and repudiation of the helianane family
Jason C Green1, Sandra Jiménez-Alonso, Eric R Brown
1Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA.
Abstract:
Total syntheses of two structures purported as (+)-heliananes were completed in six pots. Spectral comparisons, between the synthetic and natural compounds, revealed a misassignment of the eight-membered ring in the heliananes. The key step in the syntheses of the proposed structures and the confirmation of their actual structures was a diastereoselective inverse-demand Diels-Alder reaction between an optically active enol ether and an ortho-quinone methide species, which was generated in situ at low temperature by the sequential addition of methylmagnesium bromide and di-tert-butyl dicarbonate to a salicylaldehyde.
Related Concept Videos
Acid Halides to Amides: Aminolysis
In the first step of the aminolysis mechanism, the amine attacks the carbonyl carbon of the acyl chloride to form a tetrahedral intermediate. In the second step, the carbonyl group is re-formed with the elimination of a chloride...
Hydrolysis
Hydrolysis is a chemical reaction in which the addition of water breaks down a polymer into its simpler monomer units. For example, peptides break into amino acids, carbohydrates into simple sugars, and DNA into nucleotides. Enzymes often facilitate these processes.
Hydrolysis Reverses Dehydration Synthesis
Complex carbohydrates can be broken down by breaking the bonds between individual sugar units. The reaction breaks a glycosidic bond as water is added to the compound. The...
Preparation of 1° Amines: Gabriel Synthesis
Strong bases like NaOH or KOH deprotonate the phthalimide to form the corresponding anion, which acts as a nucleophile. Further, the anion attacks an...
DNA Helicases
Preparation of Alkynes: Dehydrohalogenation
Alkynes can be prepared by dehydrohalogenation of vicinal or geminal dihalides in the presence of a strong base like sodium amide in liquid ammonia. The reaction proceeds with the loss of two equivalents of hydrogen halide (HX) via two successive E2 elimination reactions.
Amides to Amines: LiAlH4 Reduction
Amide reduction requires two equivalents of the reducing agent, acting as a source of hydride ions. As shown in the figure, the reaction is initiated with a nucleophilic attack by the hydride ion at the carbonyl carbon to form a tetrahedral intermediate.

