Cycloheptatriene, formation from benzene

Cyanuric chloride, 298, 305, 315 Cycloheptatriene, formation from benzene, 61... 

Complexes of Cr, W, Mo, Fe, Ru, V, Mn and Rh form stable, isolable arene if -complexes. Among them, arene complexes of Cr(CO)3 have high synthetic uses. When benzene is refluxed with Cr(CO)6 in a mixture of dibutyl ether and THF, three coordinated CO molecules are displaced with six-7r-electrons of benzene to form the stable i/fi-benzene chromium tricarbonyl complex (170) which satisfies the 18-electron rule (6 from benzene + 6 from Cr(0) + 6 from 3 CO = 18). Complex formation is facilitated by electron-donating groups on benzene, and no complex of nitrobenzene is formed. Complex formation has a profound effect on reactivity of arenes, and the resulting complexes are used in synthetic reactions. The metal-free reaction products can be isolated easily after decomplexation by mild oxidation using low-valent Cr. Cycloheptatriene also forms a stable complex with Cr(CO)3 and its synthetic applications are discussed below. 

Reaction of CF with benzene generates the 7-fluoronorcaradien-7-ly radical (39), which abstracts hydrogen (from added isobutane) and opens to 7-fluorocyclohepta-triene (40). Cycloheptatriene (10) is trapped as tropylium fluoroborate (41) by the addition of BF3 (Eq. 21)P An additional product of CF + benzene is fluorobenzene (42), in which labeling studies demonstrate that the attacking carbon contains the fluorine in 42. The interesting transfer of CH in Eq. 28 is proposed to account for the formation of 42. " ... 

Since Theodor Curtius reported the synthesis of ethyl diazoacetate in 1883, Buchner had investigated its reactions with carbonyl compounds, alkenes, alkynes, and aromatic compounds for more than 30 years.His extensive contributions in this area resulted in two reactions named in his honor the Buchner-Curtius-Schlotterbeck reaction (formation of ketones from aldehydes and aliphatic diazo compounds) and the Buchner reaction. The prototypical example of the latter involves the thermal or photochemical reaction of ethyl diazoacetate with benzene to give (via norcaradiene 7) a mixture of four isomeric cycloheptatrienes 8-11. Initially, Buchner believed that a single norcaradiene product 7 was generated from this reaction, but later, he realized that the hydrolysis of the product afforded a mixture of four isomeric carboxylix acids. The norcaradiene formulation persisted until 1956 when Doering reinvestigated this reaction. ... 

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