PAHs polycyclic aromatic synthesis

One of the drawbacks of the synthesis of the polyynes with the submerged carbon arc is the simultaneous formation of a mixture of PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) and soot (see Chapter 8). Apparently the PAHs... 

Unbumed Hydrocarbons Various unburned hydrocarbon species may be emitted from hydrocarbon flames. In general, there are two classes of unburned hydrocarbons (1) small molecules that are the intermediate products of combustion (for example, formaldehyde) and (2) larger molecules that are formed by pyro-synthesis in hot, fuel-rich zones within flames, e.g., benzene, toluene, xylene, and various polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Many of these species are listed as Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPs) in Title III of the Clean Air Act Amendment of 1990 and are therefore of particular concern. In a well-adjusted combustion system, emission or HAPs is extremely low (typically, parts per trillion to parts per billion). However, emission of certain HAPs may be of concern in poorly designed or maladjusted systems. 

The synthesis of toxic organic compounds by humans, and their release into the natural environment began to assume significant proportions during the 20th century, especially after the Second World War. Prior to 1900, the chemical industry was relatively small, and the largest chemical impact of humans on the environment was probably dne to the release of hydrocarbons, especially polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), with the combnstion of coal and other fuels. 

All 60 C-atoms of Cjq are incorporated in the CgoHjo polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) 6, for which an efficient synthesis was developed [153], Laser irradiation of 6 at 337 nm induces hydrogen loss and the formation of CgQ, as detected by mass spectrometry (Scheme 1.6). Control experiments with C-labeled material and with the C48H24 homologue of 6 verified that the C50 is formed by a molecular transformation directly from the C50H30 PAH and not by fragmentation and recombination in the gas phase. 

We earlier recalled that one can build a huge number of molecules by simply assembling CeH rings, a scheme that was summarized in Table 1.4, and that a solid such as graphite can be obtained in this gedanken synthesis. Let us briefly discuss the case of linear acenes, which are linear polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) composed of laterally fused CeHe rings. 

When 2D or 3D PAHs are considered then the choice becomes much larger. An exhaustive review on the advances in the synthesis of polycyclic aromatic compounds can be found in Harvey, 2004. The most used strategies are flash vacuum pyrolysis, cross-coupling, oxidative photocyclization, Diels-Adler cycloaddition, etc. 

In the aromatic-ring-annelated oxepin series the resonance effect is clearly the major influence dominating other factors (e.g. temperature, solvent, etc.) which affect the oxepin-arene oxide equilibrium. It is however very difficult to exclude the presence of a minor (spectroscopically undetectable) contribution from either tautomer at equilibrium. This problem has been investigated by the synthesis of chiral arene oxides from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The presence of oxepin (26) in equilibrium with naphthalene 1,2-oxide has been excluded by the synthesis of the optically active arene oxide which showed no evidence of racemization in solution at ambient temperature via the achiral oxepin (26) <79JCS(Pl)2437>. 

Many polycyclic aromatic amines and aldehydes are commercially available, but their supply is very limited. Preparation of these starting materials is necessary for studying the (3-lactam formation reaction [93]. Nitro compounds are the precursors for the amines. An important task was to prepare polycyclic aromatic nitro compounds, particularly those of chrysene, phenanthrene, pyrene, and dibenzofluorene in good yield. Nitration of these hydrocarbons with concentrated nitric acid in sulfuric acid is a widely used reaction for this purpose. Our research culminated in facile synthesis of polyaromatic nitro derivative 9 starting from polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) 8 through the use of bismuth nitrate impregnated with clay (Scheme 1) ([94, 95] for some examples of bismuth nitrate-catalyzed reactions... 

The simplest member of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) series, naphthalene, may in principle form four possible arene oxide-oxepin tautomeric pairs (A-D). In practice, the valence tautomers that have an intact aromatic-ring structure 11, 12, 100, 101 predominate. This discussion of arene oxide synthesis... 

Dioxiranes, generated in situ or used in solution, oxidize polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) to arene oxides. This reaction permits the synthesis of arene oxides which are otherwise only... 

The topic Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons has been reviewed by different authors in the last decades [26]. The most complete summary of classical synthetic routes to PAHs may still be found in Eric Clar s Polycyclic Hydrocarbons [26a]. Most recently, Ronald G. Harvey reviewed the syntheses and characteristics of PAHs up to seven rings in a very comprehensive fashion [26 f] in his book Polycyclic Aromatic Compounds . Recent advances in the synthesis of PAHs are published in all major journals of organic chemistry, in Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons [27], and presented during the regular ISNA [28] and ISPAC [29] conferences. 

Carbon chemistry occurs most efficiently in circumstellar and diffuse interstellar clouds. The circumstellar envelopes of carbon-rich stars are the heart of the most complex carbon chemistry that is analogous to soot formation in candle flames or industrial smoke stacks (26). There is evidence that chemical pathways, similar to combustion processes on Earth, form benzene, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and subsequently soot and complex aromatic networks under high temperature conditions in circumstellar regions (27,28). Molecular synthesis occurs in the circumstellar environment on timescales as short as several hundred years (29). Acetylene (C2H2) appears to be the... 

Synthesis and Reactivities of Aromatic Oxides. Certain optically active arene oxides, which are of biological significance as metabolites of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), undergo spontaneous racemisation. The most plausible mechanism for this involves ring opening to the corresponding oxepins... 

Synthesis of Stericahy Congested Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) 123... 

Palladium catalysts have been used for cycloaddition of dimethylacetylene di-carboxylate (DMAD) to polycyclic arynes 3, 77 and 79 (Schemes 34-36). All these reactions exhibit the same reactivity pattern as is observed in the [2+2+2] cycloaddition of benzyne to DMAD (see Sect. 3.1) Pd2(dba)3 leads selectively to the cocycloaddition of one molecule of aryne and two molecules of DMAD, while Pd(PPh3)4 induces the reaction of two molecules of aryne with one molecule of DMAD. Both reactions afford the corresponding polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in good yields and with high chemoselectivity, constituting a novel and versatile method for the synthesis of functionalized PAHs under mild reaction conditions [70-72] (Scheme 34). 

A direct and easy palladium-catalyzed C-H bond oxidative cyclization for the synthesis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) was reported. The intramolecular palladium-catalyzed direct oxidative C-H bond functionalization for the C-O bond formation was demonstrated, which... 

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