Remarkable Effect of Fullerenes on Low-Valent Titanium Mediated Organic Reaction

Abstract
Addition of catalytic amounts of fullerenes as coordinating ligand to the low valent titanium reagent resulted in the remarkable increase in the yields of phenanthrenes (3) from orthomethoxy aryl aldehydes/ketones (1) (SCHEME I) via intramolecular C-C coupling. This is the first report on the use of fullerenes as a ligand in transition metal mediated organic synthesis.