hide
Free keywords:
carbon; cyclodehydrogenation; graphite; mass spectrometry; polycycles
Abstract:
In this paper we present the synthesis and characterization of the so far largest polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH), containing 222 carbon atoms or 37 separate benzene units. First a suitable three-dimensional oligophenylene precursor molecule is built up by a sequence of Diels-Alder and cyclotrimerization reactions and then planarized in the final step by oxidative cyclodehydrogenation to the corresponding hexagonal PAH. Structural proof is based on isotopically resolved MALDI-TOF mass spectra and electronic characteristics are studied by UV/Vis spectroscopy.