Photolability of Per-Arylated Butadienes: En Route to Dihydronaphthalenes

Arylated butadienes were prepared employing transition-metal coupling techniques and characterized via UV/vis spectroscopy and X-ray crystal structure analysis. Identification of byproducts led to a photochemical route toward novel multiarylated dihydro­naph­thalenes. Arylbutadiene–dihydronaphthalene cyclization occurs in solution and in the solid state. Upon substitution of hexa­phenyl­butadiene, absorption is red-shifted and stability under ambient light is even more reduced.