Alkyne cycloisomerization of 2,7-bis(2-ethynylphenyl)anthracene derivatives to form dinaphtho fused anthracenes

Abstract Reactions of the title compounds with PtCl2 catalyst produced dinaphthoanthracene derivatives via 6-endo cyclization of the 2 alkyne moieties. For the reactions of a phenylethynyl substituted precursor, migration of one of the phenyl groups was observed on cyclization with PtCl2 catalyst and additional cyclization was observed on cyclization with TfOH. The structures and spectroscopic properties of these polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are reported.