Corannulene, reduction tetraanion

The first evidence for the self-assembly of corannulene tetraanions into a supramolecu-lar dimer, 44, was provided by studies on derivatives of 4371. Owing to their lower symmetry, dimers of monosubstituted corannulene tetraanions are expected to exhibit supramolec-ular stereochemistry, and thus exist in meso and/or as dl dimeric forms (Figure 14a, and b respectively). Reduction of tert-butylcorannulene (45) with excess lithium metal in THF-d i leads to two sets of alkyl groups in almost equal abundance, thus pointing to the presence of tightly bound dimers. Compelling evidence for dimerization comes from the successful detection of a mixed dimer between 434 and 454. In addition, diffusion... 

Corannulene (1) displays interesting electrochemical properties. The reduction states of 1 lie between those of the neutral hydrocarbon and the tetraanion (1 740 ). Reduction of 1 at —78 C with excess lithium metal in [Dg]-THF over a period of several days led to a series of three color changes, first to green, then to purple, and finally to brownish-red [76]. Quenching this solution with water gave tetrahydrocorannulene as the major product accompanied by small amounts of dihydrocorannulene and 1. More recently, the structure of [Na(DME)3] [l ] was analyzed by X-ray crystallography, and its bowl depth (0.85 A) was found to be slightly shallower than the parent 1 [77]. 

The monosubstituted corannulene derivatives tert-butylcorannulene (3S) and iso-propylcorannulene (36) have lower symmetry than corannulene therefore their reduction provided evidence for the formation of the dimers of corannulene tet-raanion. The dimers of monosubstituted coraimulene tetraanions are expected to exhibit supramolecular stereochemistry, existing in meso and d,l dimeric forms. 

The chiral penta-substituted corannulene, 1,3,5,7,9-penta-terfbutylcorannulene (37), which shows anomalous dynamic behavior [116], was reduced with Li and four reduction stages were observed [117]. The behavior of the anti-aromatic dianion and the aromatic tetraanion resemble that of the parent corannulene. In the final stage of the reduction, three distinct tetraanionic species could be detected. Two of the species are sandwich-type dimers, as in the case of corannulene, and are diastereomers, due to the chirality of 37 (RR/SS and meso - RS/SR). The third species was assigned as a tetraanionic monomer, which slowly disappears. 

Following the dimerization of corannulene, a system of two tethered corannulene units, 1,8-dicorannulenyloctane (38) [118], was reduced with alkali metals to study the formation of an intramolecular sandwich [8]. The reduction was done with Li, Na, K, Rb and Cs, and the two diamagnetic anions tetraanion and octa-... 

Compounds 40 and 41 do not contain the dibenzofulvene subunit, which is responsible for the dimerization process in 39 therefore, their reduction produces only monomeric anions. The LUMO level in 40 and 41 is not doubly degenerate like that of corannulene, but there is rather a small energy gap between the LUMO and the NLUMO, which indicates that the formation of tetraanions of 40 and 41 should be possible [120]. 

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