Dehydro[12]- and -[18]annulenes fused with tetrafluorobenzene: synthesis,electronic properties,packing structures,and reactivity in the solid state

Dehydro[12]- and -[18]annulenes 3 and 4 fused with tetrafluorobenzene were newly synthesized by the copper-mediated oxidative coupling of 1,2-diethynyltetrafluorobenzene. The UV-vis spectra of 3 and 4 showed the maximum absorption to be almost identical to that of the corresponding unsubstituted benzodehydro[12]- and -[18]annulenes 1 and 2, respectively, while the reduction waves in cyclic voltammetry observed at potentials of -1.48 and -1.56 V vs Fc/Fc(+) for 3 and 4 were less negative than those for 1 and 2. In agreement with these results, theoretical calculations (B3LYP/6-31G(d)) indicated that the HOMO-LUMO gap is similar for 1 and 3 and for 2 and 4 but that the LUMO levels of 3 and 4 are apparently lowered by the electronegative fluorine substituents. The X-ray crystallography of single crystals grown from 3 (crystal A), 3.C(6)H(6) (crystal B), and a mixture of 1 and 3 (crystal C) demonstrated that the molecules of 3 are stacked in a slanted manner in crystals A and B, while those of 1 and 3 form sandwichlike 1:2 complexes (3.1.3) that are stacked in a columnar arrangement in crystal C. Despite the suitable packing for topochemical polymerization, crystals A-C were quite stable against photochemical reaction. In contrast, differential scanning calorimetry showed that the thermal polymerization occurred explosively at 120-135 degrees C.