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Updated: Jan 19, 2026

Single-Molecule Imaging of Nuclear Transport
Published on: June 9, 2010
Revisiting Kekulene: Synthesis and Single-Molecule Imaging
Iago Pozo1, Zsolt Majzik2, Niko Pavliček2
1Centro Singular de Investigación en Química Biolóxica e Materiais Moleculares (CIQUS) and Departamento de Química Orgánica , Universidade de Santiago de Compostela , 15782 Santiago de Compostela , Spain.
Abstract:
Four decades after the first (and only) reported synthesis of kekulene, this emblematic cycloarene has been obtained again through an improved route involving the construction of a key synthetic intermediate, 5,6,8,9-tetrahydrobenzo[m]tetraphene, by means of a double Diels-Alder reaction between styrene and a versatile benzodiyne synthon. Ultra-high-resolution AFM imaging of single molecules of kekulene and computational calculations provide additional support for a molecular structure with a significant degree of bond localization in accordance with the resonance structure predicted by the Clar model.
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