PERMETALATED AROMATIC-COMPOUNDS

Permetalated aromatic compounds, wherein all aromatic hydrogens in an aromatic molecule are replaced by metal substituents, represent an ext remely rare class of molecules. A critical examination of the literatu re might lead to the conclusion that permetalated aromatic compounds p ossess limited thermodynamic stability due to strong electrostatic rep ulsion between adjacent carbanionic sites. However, a recent report de tailing the synthesis of hexalithiobenzene, coupled with recent studie s on permetalated metallocenes, demonstrate that permetalated aromatic compounds can possess excellent thermodynamic stability. The present state of knowledge concerning the structure and reactivity of hexalith iobenzene, decalithioruthenocene, and decakis(chloromagnesio)ruthenoce ne is described. The remarkable stability of the existing permetalated compounds implies that many new permetalated systems should be easily synthesized.