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Updated: Oct 3, 2025

Versatile CO2 Transformations into Complex Products: A One-pot Two-step Strategy
Published on: November 9, 2019
Reversible structural rearrangement of π-expanded cyclooctatetraene upon two-fold reduction with alkali metals
Zheng Zhou1,2, Yikun Zhu1, Zheng Wei1
1Department of Chemistry, University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, NY 12222, USA. mpetrukhina@albany.edu.
Abstract:
The chemical reduction of a π-expanded COT derivative, octaphenyltetrabenzocyclooctatetraene (1), with lithium or sodium metals in the presence of secondary ligands affords a new doubly-reduced product (1TR2-). The X-ray diffraction study revealed a reductive core rearrangement accompanied by the formation of a single C-C bond and severe twist of the central tetraphenylene core. The reversibility of two-electron reduction and core transformation is further confirmed by NMR spectroscopy and DFT calculations.
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