Largely ignored since its discovery and characterization by Wilkinson's group in the early 1960's,'3* perfluoro-tetramethylcyclopentadienone (1) is nonetheless a remarkable compound. This highly volatile yellow solid is stable as a monomer, apparently by virtue of the bulk of its trifluoromethyl substituent^.^ Its resistance to dimerization disguises the fact that 1 is an extremely reactive molecule, one aspect of whose multifaceted chemistry ...
