Restricted rotation about the aliphatic carbon–carbon bond in 1,2-disubstituted tetra-arylethanes

Abstract

The existence of stable rotational isomers of 1,2-dichlorotetraphenylethane previously reported, is shown to be incorrect, since dipole moment measurements indicate the presence of the trans-form only. Infrared studies of a number of 1,2-disubstituted tetra-arylethanes fail to account for the existence of possible gauche-forms, except in the case of the ethane-1,2-diols which occur exclusively in this conformation.

Chlorine addition reactions with sulphuryl chloride as reagent follow a heterolytic path.