Synthesis of an isotopically labeled naphthalene derivative that supports a long-lived nuclear singlet state

The synthesis of an octa-alkoxy substituted isotopically labeled naphthalene derivative, shown to have excellent properties in singlet NMR experiments, is described. This highly substituted naphthalene system, which incorporates an adjacent (13)C spin pair, is readily accessed from a commercially available (13)C2-labeled building block via sequential thermal alkynyl- and arylcyclobutenone rearrangements. The synthetic route incorporates a simple desymmetrization approach leading to a small difference in the chemical shifts of the (13)C spin pair, a design constraint crucial for accessing nuclear singlet order.