The development of a palladium-catalyzed decarboxylative coupling reaction of arene carboxylates with olefinic substrates is described. The optimized procedure for decarboxylative palladation employs Pd(O2CCF3)2 as catalyst (0.2 equiv) in the presence of Ag2CO3 (3 equiv) in the solvent 5% DMSO-DMF and proceeds at temperatures of 80-120 degrees C with a wide range of arene carboxylates and alkenes as substrates. The process is proposed to proceed by an initial Ar-SE reaction involving ipso attack of an electrophilic Pd(II) intermediate on an arene carboxylate to form an arylpalladium(II) species with loss of carbon dioxide. This intermediate is then proposed to react with an olefinic substrate by steps common to the Heck coupling process. Reoxidation of the liberated Pd(0) in situ is proposed to establish the catalytic cycle.

A series of 1,n-dioxa[n](2,7)pyrenophanes (n = 7-12) with increasingly nonplanar pyrene moieties was synthesized by a 9-10 step sequence starting from 5-hydroxyisophthalic acid. The crystal structure of each member of this series was determined crystallographically. Several spectroscopic properties were found to vary with the extent of the nonplanarity of the pyrene unit. The way in which the distortion from planarity of the pyrene system influences its pi-electron delocalization was investigated by using two quantitative descriptors of aromaticity based on geometry (HOMA) and magnetism (magnetic susceptibility and NICS). Both methods suggest that the aromaticity of the pyrene moiety is diminished only slightly upon increasing the bend angle theta from 0 degrees to 109.2 degrees.

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A new strategy for the synthesis of Buckybowls is presented and initial attempts to implement it are reported. This involves annulation of further rings onto polycyclic aromatic systems that prefer to be planar but have been "pre-bent" by the installation of a tether. Pyrenophane 2b reacts with TCNE and PTAD to give 1:1 and 1:2 adducts, respectively. The less strained pyrenophane 2c is unreactive toward TCNE but gives a 1:2 adduct with PTAD. Attempted electrophilic aromatic brominations of pyrenophane 2e under a variety of conditions were unsuccessful, as were attempts to brominate cyclophanediene 1c, the direct synthetic precursor of 2c. Tether cleavage and addition reactions occurred rather than substitution. In an effort to circumvent tether cleavage problems, [7]-, [8]- and [9](2,7)pyrenophanes 22b-d were prepared. However, attempted bromination and Friedel-Crafts acylations failed. Evidence for the fleeting existence of [6](2,7)pyrenophane 22a was also obtained. Comparison of structural data (X-ray and AM1 calculations) for the pyrenophanes 22a-d with their 1,n-dioxa analogues 2a-d indicates that the nature of the tether has a strong effect on the degree of bend in the pyrene moiety and this led to the identification of trioxapyrenophane 28 as the next target in the quest for increasingly bent pyrenes.