Regioselective `One‐Pot' Synthesis of Antipodal Bis‐adducts by Heating of Solid [5,6]Fullerene‐C60‐Ih and Anthracenes,Preliminary Communication

Antipodal (`trans‐1') Diels‐Alder bis‐adducts 3 and 7 – 9 of 5,6]fullerene‐C₆₀‐I_h ( 1 ) with some anthracenes were prepared highly regioselectively by heating mixtures of the solid 1 and anthracene or of (one of) three alkyl‐substituted anthracenes in the absence of solvents (Scheme 2). Other bis‐cycloadducts were not detected, but lesser amounts of mono‐cycloadducts 2 and 4 – 6 , respectively, were also formed. Heating of solvent‐free mixtures of 1 and three other alkyl‐substituted anthracenes did not result in a detectable amount of (antipodal) bis‐cycloadducts. The antipodal bis‐adduct 7 of 1 and of 1‐methylanthracene was analyzed by X‐ray crystallography. The preparative outcome of heating of anthracenes and solid 1 parallels the result of the heating of the corresponding crystalline mono‐adducts of anthracenes and 1 . Both approaches reveal a remarkably consistent dependence of the reaction upon the presence and position of alkyl substituents at the anthracene unit. The regioselective assembly of antipodal bis‐adducts from anthracene(s) and 1 cannot be rationalized by their (inherent molecular) stability, but it indicates the crucial control of the lattice.