The work presented in this thesis was aimed at developing a new strategy to prepare conjug¬ated molecular belts with possible applications as precursors in rational carbon nanotube syntheses. Using the reaction scheme below, the range of the accessible belt oligoaryl¬acetylenes was increased by the introduction of anthracene units. As a first step towards this goal, it was essential to develop and optimize a new synthetic route to cyclic para-anthrylethylenes 44, which in turn can be used as precursors for belt-like aromatic compounds.
The halogenation and dehydrohalogenation reactions of the corresponding anthraceno¬phanes as a simple and efficient access to belt-shaped aromatic molecules were extens¬ively investigated. The products of these reactions like cyclic [6] and [9]-para-anthrylacetylene 69 and 70 could be important intermediates in the rational synthesis of carbon nanotubes
