Hexa-1,2,4,5-tetraene rearrangement

The skeletal rearrangement of various strained cyclic compounds is carried out with a catalytic amount of soluble complexes of PdCl2. Namely, the rearrangements of bulvalene (67) to bicyclo[4.2.2]deca-2,4,7,9-tetraene (68)[54], cubane (69) to cuneane (70)[55], hexamethyl Dewar benzene (71) to hexa-methylbenzene (72)[56], and 3-oxaquadricyclanes[57] and quadricyclane (73) to norbornadiene[58-60] take place mostly at room temperature. Reaction of iodocubane (74) with a terminal alkyne catalyzed by Pd(0) and CuBr unexpectedly affords an alkynylcyclooctatetraene 75, without giving the desired cubylalkyne 76. Probably the rearrangement is a Pd-catalyzed reaction[61]. 

Radiolysis of the diacetylene hexa-l,5-diyne (50) generates the hexa-1,2,4,5-tetraene radical cation (51 +) via a Cope rearrangement in the Freon matrix. ... 

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