Nonplanar Tub-Shaped Benzocyclooctatetraenes via Halogen-Radical Ring Opening of Dihydrobiphenylenes.

A novel tandem Ru-catalyzed [2+2+2] cycloaddition of arylenynes to dihydrobiphenylenes followed by halogen-radical ring opening has been developed for the construction of tub-shaped halogenated benzocyclooctatetraenes (bCOT's). Cross-couplings and Diels-Alder reactions of the brominated bCOT's allow the formation of the corresponding eight-membered ring-fused PAH's. The halogen-radical ring opening probably occurs via a selective formation of a bis-allyl radical at the 1,3-cyclohexadiene moiety, halogenation at the bridgehead carbon, and finally electrocyclic ring opening.