1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 6-Hexamethyl-4-methylene-2, 5-cyclohe~ diene (1) reacts with alkyllithium compounds, RLi (R= n-Bu, sec-Bu, and t-Bu), at 20 “C in hydrocarbon solution or in the presence of ethers or tertiary amines, which act as ligands, to give stable, soluble 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 6-hexamethyl-4-alkylcyclohexadienyllithium compounds, 3a-c. On heating, the latter aromatize to pentamethylalkylbenzenes, 4a-q with extrusion of methyllithium, while on ...
[Attina, Marina; Cacace, Fulvio; Petris, Giulia de; Fornarini, Simonetta; Giacomello, Pierluigi Journal of the American Chemical Society, 1985 , vol. 107, p. 2297 - 2302]