Chemistry Letters, Vol.29, No.8, 896-897, 2000
Synthesis and molecular structure of a dilithium salt of the cis-diphenylcyclobutadiene dianion
The cis-diphenyl-substituted cyclobutadiene cobalt complex (1), prepared from the reaction of 1,8-diphenyl-3,6-disila-1,7-octadiyne with CpCo(CO)(2), reacted with lithium metal in tetrahydrofuran (THF) to yield pale orange crystals of the dilithium salt of the cis-diphenylcyclobutadiene dianion (2). The structure was determined by spectroscopic methods and Xray crystallography to reveal the aromatic character of the doubly-charged four-membered ring system.