Diels-Alder Reaction Lab

The Diels-Alder reaction, an electrocyclic reaction between a conjugated diene and a substituted alkene, also known as a dienophile, was used in the experiment. The purpose was to synthesize a substituted cyclohexene derivate by the reaction between the diene and dienophile, and it reacted in a reflux solution with toluene as the solvent forming an unsaturated six-membered ring. First, approximately 54 mg each of both compounds, tetraphenylcyclopentadienone (TPCPD) and diphenylacetylene (DPA), were placed in a reaction tube to be mixed and heated on a sand bath for several minutes. During the heating process, the color of the TPCPD reactant would fade as the color went from purple to white showing the other reactant. Also during the heating, DPA refluxed for a brief time until the tube was removed from the sand bath for the melted product to cool and solidify. Then, 0.25mL of diphenyl ether was added to the tube and it was

Their presence affects the reactivity and stability of dienes and dienophiles in the Diels-Alder reaction, making them more open. However, it allows the diene to reduce energy to produce a more stable cyclic product, but dienes with a low ring strain reduce reactivity in the reaction. Hexaphenylbenzene undergoes “ring closure” to form a new benzene ring. Ring closure is a reaction in which an open chain of atoms is closed to form a ring. The process includes breaking one of the carbon double bonds in the phenyl group and creating a new bond between the carbon atoms of the neighboring group, resulting in the hexaphenylbenzene creating a new ring. When tetraphenylcyclopentadienone reacts with diphenylacetylene, the reaction includes forming carbon monoxide (CO). The metal carbonyl complex is formed during the process with CO in the middle, resulting in the carbon-oxygen bond weakening and CO gas released as a reaction