Abstract: We have examined the reaction behavior of a group of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the aprotic liquid SbCI,-lO mol% AlCl, from 100 to 130 OC by'H NMR and by quench and separation techniques. For anthracene, pyrene, 9, lO-dimethylanthracene, 9, IO- diphenylanthracene, and naphthacene, we have observed a novel arene self-protonation reaction for which the proton source is the condensation-dehydrogenation of a portion of ...