.
Angewandte
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Table 1: Selected distances and the torsion angles for C70, 9aa, and 9ba
with DDQ. The Pd-catalyzed cyclization of 8aa gave 9aa in
low yield. This three-step protocol was also adopted for the
preparation of new fullerene fragments, such as more-
extended buckybowls 9ba and 9bc, both of which are also
fragments of C70,[3] C76,[9] C84,[10] and other fullerenes. It should
be emphasized that the solubility of 9aa and 9ba in common
organic solvents is low, and some of the product remained on
the column after chromatography. An attempt was made to
synthesize 9bc because we believe its two n-butyl groups
would likely improve the solubility. Unfortunately, only
a trace amount of 9bc was obtained. Presumably, the highly
curved structure was the main reason for the inefficient
conversion.
based on X-ray crystallography.[a]
b
C70
9aa
9ba
The structures of 9aa and 9ba were analyzed by X-ray
crystallography, and found to be bowl-shaped (Figure 1).[13]
The depth of the bowl 9aa was determined to be 2.28 ꢀ, by
Bond length [ꢀ]/bond type
À
C2 C3/A
1.379(1)
1.377(5)
1.368(3)
À
C3 C4/B
1.456(1)
1.456(1)
1.440(1)
1.401(1)
1.478(2)
1.416(2)
1.421(2)
1.415(3)
1.387(2)
1.443(3)
1.418(2)
1.430(2)
1.425(2)
1.397(2)
1.444(2)
À
C4 C5/B
À
C5 C5’/B
À
C5 C6/A
À
C6 C15/C
Torsion angle [8]
C5-C6-C7’-C6’
C5’-C5-C7-C7’
11.0
0
12.9
0
12.3
0.3
[a] The values obtained by averaging the symmetry-related bond
distances. [b] Taken from C70·(S8)6 (Ref. [3b]).
mately 128. This twisted conformation is slightly more stable
(5.57 kcalmolÀ1 for 9aa) than a planar conformation, based
on density functional theory (DFT) calculations (see the
Supporting Information). The twisted six-membered rings
were also observed in C70 (11.08). To further examine the
conformation of the central six-membered ring, the structures
of 2, 11, and 12 were analyzed and compared. In the solid
Figure 1. X-ray crystallographic structures and the POAV pyramidaliza-
tion angles of buckybowls 9aa and 9ba. Only the carbon atoms are
shown for clarity, and the thermal ellipsoids are set at 30% and 50%
probability for 9aa and 9ba, respectively.
measuring the perpendicular distance from the center of the
hexagonal base defined by C5, C6, C7, C7’, C6’ and C5’ to the
plane composed of the 14 rim carbon atoms (Table 1).
Buckybowl 9aa is less curved than its counterpart in C70, as
revealed by comparing the distances between the two carbon
atoms C2 and C10 (8.21 ꢀ for 9aa and 7.90 ꢀ for C70). Similar
to corannulene (1) and acecorannulene (10),[14] the peri an-
nelation in 9ba increases both the bowl depth (2.33 ꢀ) and
the curvature (d(C2–C10) = 8.03 ꢀ).
The point symmetries of buckybowls 9aa and 9ba are
quasi-C2v and quasi-Cs, respectively. The slight deviation from
the ideal geometry may be caused by intermolecular inter-
actions in the solid. Table 1 shows selected structural data for
state, the central six-membered ring in curved sumanene
(2)[15] and that in planar coronene (12)[16] are planar, whereas
that in 11 is found to have a torsion angle of approximately 58,
based on a DFT calculations (Supporting Information). These
findings suggest that the arrangement of five- and six-
membered rings on the rim affects the conformation of the
central six-membered ring in these arenes.
The POAV (p-orbital axis vector) pyramidalization
angle[17] is useful for quantifying the curvature of buckybowls.
For example, the values for planar benzene and C60 are 08 and
11.68, respectively. The maximum POAV pyramidalization
angle of 9aa was observed at the C5/C7 position, with a mean
value of 10.88 (Figure 1). The additional ethylene bridge in
9ba strongly increases the POAV pyramidalization angle at
the C3 position to 11.48. The twisted conformation of the
central six-membered ring in 9 explains the low POAV
À
9 and C70. Most of the C C bond lengths in 9aa and 9ba are
smaller than those of their counterparts in C70. Table 1
presents segments of 9 and their representative bond types A–
C (shown in bold); the bond lengths follows the order C > B >
A. Importantly, bond type C, which is bond VIII on the
À
equator of C70 and C6 C15 in buckybowls 9, is found only in
C70 or higher fullerenes. Like C60,[2] C70 and buckybowls 9
À
generally exhibit alternating C C distances, such that the 6:6
ring junctions are shorter than the 6:5 ring junctions, but bond
type C is an exception. For a detailed comparison of the
structural data of 9 and C70, see the Supporting Information.
The central six-membered ring in both 9aa and 9ba is
twisted with a torsion angle (C5-C6-C7’-C6’) of approxi-
ꢀ 2013 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2013, 52, 1289 –1293