“…Treatment of 1 with TiCpCl 2 /Zn 26 or Fe 2 (CO) 9 27 led to the recovery of the starting material, while treatment of 1 with LiAlH 4 /TiCl 4 , 28 TiCl 4 /Zn, 29 or NaI/trimethylsilyl iodide (TMSI) 30 resulted in only partial removal of the six bridging oxygen atoms, as indicated by the mass spectra of the crude products. When 1 (C 252 H 234 N 12 O 6 ) in THF was treated with an excess of SnCl 2 in a solution of HBr in acetic acid 31 at room temperature under an atmosphere of N 2 , the HRMS of the crude product (Fig. S14 in the ESI†) showed a major molecular ion peak of m / z = 3439.9520 corresponding to a molecular formula of C 252 H 244 N 12 ( m / z = 3439.9522).…”