Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 12, 2025

Accessing Valuable Ligand Supports for Transition Metals: A Modified, Intermediate Scale Preparation of 1,2,3,4,5-Pentamethylcyclopentadiene
Published on: March 20, 2017
Unexpected Diels-Alder reaction of [60]fullerene with electron-deficient ferrocenes as cyclopentadiene surrogates
Zhan Liu1, Zheng-Chun Yin1, Wen-Qiang Lu1
1Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, and Department of Chemistry, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, P. R. China. gwang@ustc.edu.cn.
Abstract:
The unexpected Diels-Alder reaction of [60]fullerene (C60) with ferrocenes bearing electron-withdrawing groups as cyclopentadiene surrogates has been developed to selectively afford single isomers of [2 + 4] cycloadducts of C60. Mechanistic studies indicate that cyclopentadienes are in situ generated from electron-deficient ferrocenes in the presence of an oxidant and an acid, followed by [2 + 4] cycloadditions with dienophiles. A Michael addition reaction using a Grignard reagent has been utilized to transform the Diels-Alder adducts of C60 into more stable fullerene derivatives.
Related Concept Videos
[4+2] Cycloaddition of Conjugated Dienes: Diels–Alder Reaction
Diels–Alder Reaction Forming Cyclic Products: Stereochemistry
Diels–Alder Reaction Forming Bridged Bicyclic Products: Stereochemistry
Cycloaddition Reactions: Overview
Diels–Alder Reaction: Characteristics of Dienes
Characteristics of the diene
Conformation
The simplest example of a diene is 1,3-butadiene, an acyclic conjugated π system. At room temperature, the molecule exists as a mixture of s-cis and s-trans conformers by virtue of rotation around the carbon–carbon single bond. Although the s-trans isomer is...
Diels–Alder Reaction: Characteristics of Dienophiles
Characteristics of Dienophiles
Generally, the best dienophiles are alkenes containing electron-withdrawing substituents such as carbonyl, nitrile, and nitro groups. The feasibility of a Diels–Alder reaction depends...

