Electrochemical study of some bromo-substituted [2.2]paracyclophanes

The potentials of electrochemical oxidation ( ) and reduction ( ) of monobromo- and isomeric di- and tribromo2.2]paracyclophanes as well as of mono-, di-, and tribromobenzenes were measured in acetonitrile. The similarity between the properties ofpseudo-para-disubstituted cyclophanes andmeta-disubstituted benzenes, on the one hand, andpseudo-meta-disubstituted cyclophanes andpara-disubstituted benzenes, on the other hand, was confirmed by the existence of a linear relationship between of bromo-substituted 2.2]paracyclophanes and of the corresponding bromo-substituted benzenes. The results were explained in terms of the qualitative theory of molecular orbitals, taking into account a through space interaction between the -systems of the benzene rings.Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 5, pp. 839–845, May, 1994.The authors wish to express their gratitude to Professor R. Hoffmann (Cornell University, USA) for a useful discussion and criticisms of the text of this paper.This work was financially supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (Project 93-03-5246).