products. The very high intensity of the peak at 530 cm-', located in a region characteristic for skeletal deformation vibrations, which are usually of negligible intensity, is quite striking and may reflect an unusual charge distribution in small-ring propellanes. All attempts to isolate or chemically trap 1 by distilling the matrix into a cold vessel met with failure. We hypothesize that 1 oligomerizes or polymerizes with extreme ease. This is perhaps not surprising in ...