Umwandlung von 6-Methylen-tricyclo[3.2.1.02,7]oct-3-en-8-onen in Polymethyltropyliumsalze

When dissolved in trifluoroacetic or fluorosulfonic acid, 6-methylene-tricyclo3.2.1.0^2,7]oct-3-ene-8-one derivatives of type 2 (;scheme 1); give polymethyltropylium salts in moderate to good yields by CO-extrusion. These tropylium salts can be isolated pure as hexachloroplatinates. Thus the tricyclic compound 6 gives 1,2,4-trimethyltropylium trifluoroacetate 19 in trifluoroacetic acid (;scheme 3);. This salt in CDCl₃ is in equilibrium with its covalent cycloheptatriene (;tropilidene); form 20 , the ratio of the two forms being 1.5–2.1/1. The tropylium salt 19 is reduced by lithium aluminium hydride to a mixture of 1,2,4-trimethylcycloheptatrienes, isomeric with respect to the double bonds, which on hydride abstraction with trityl-tetrafluoroborate gives again the 1,2,4-trimethyltropylium salt 19 (;scheme 3);. From the trimethyl-substituted tricyclic compounds 7 and 8 , in trifluoroacetic acid, are obtained respectively the 1,2,4,6- and 1,2,3,4-tetramethyltropylium ions (; 22 and 24 ); (;schemes 4 and 5);. In this way the 1,2,3,5,6-pentamethyl-tropylium ion (; 26 ); was obtained from 9 (;scheme 6);. With the higher substituted tropylium trifluoroacetates in CDCl₃ the equilibrium tropylium trifluoroacetate ? trifluoroacetoxycycloheptatrienes lies well to the left. The hexamethylated tricyclic compound 10 gives a small quantity of heptamethyltropylium trifluoroacetate (; 27 ); and as the main product the C(;3);-protonated species 28 (;scheme 7);, which when treated with aqueous sodium hydrogencarbonate yielded unchanged educt 10 . - The heptamethyltropylium ion (; 27 ); was, apart from polymeric species, the only product from the treatment of starting material 10 with fluorosulfonic acid (;50%);; its salts have as yet not been isolated in their pure form, however. The mechanism for the rearrangement of the tricyclic compounds of type 2 into tropylium salts is presented for compound 6 in scheme 8: The first step is the protonation at C(;9);. Ring opening of the cyclopropane of the tertiary carbenium ion 29 gives the allylic ion 30 , which then yields the aromatic tropylium salt 19 by carbon monoxide extrusion in a linear cheletropic reaction. The smooth conversion with strong acids of the easily accessible tricyclic compounds of type 2 to the corresponding polymethylated tropylium salts, presents a new and useful method for the synthesis of the latter compounds.