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The modular synthesis of a fluorene-based nanohoop containing six strained alkynes is described herein. We demonstrate its scalability using alkyne metathesis as the macrocyclization method and its reactivity with azides... 

Abstract In this work we report the synthesis, structure, and electronic properties of carbon‐rich compounds dehydrobiphenyleno[12]annulenes (DBP[12]As) comprising antiaromatic four‐membered rings (4MR) and 12‐membered ring (12MR). Ultraviolet–visible absorption spectra and electrochemical behaviors of DBP[12]As confirmed their relatively narrow highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO)–lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) gap values and high HOMO energy levels, which were supported by density functional theory simulations. Parent DBP[12]A adopts a slipped herringbone structure in a crystalline state, with the molecules forming 1D stacks via π–π interactions. The experimentally derived bond lengths, bonding analyses using the Wiberg bond indices, and localized orbital locator calculation support a stronger double bond character for the 12MR bonds than the 4MR bonds in the inner six‐membered ring. The chemical shifts of hydrogens in¹H NMR spectra, as well as magnetically induced ring current analyses using quantum chemical calculations, indicate that the 4MRs have stronger antiaromatic character than the 12MR. The present information is useful for a fundamental understanding of carbon‐rich compounds with different antiaromatic units as well as designing novel molecules with unique electronic properties. 

Abstract Atmospheric humidity and soil moisture in the Amazon forest are tightly coupled to the region’s water balance, or the difference between two moisture fluxes, evapotranspiration minus precipitation (ET-P). However, large and poorly characterized uncertainties in both fluxes, and in their difference, make it challenging to evaluate spatiotemporal variations of water balance and its dependence on ET or P. Here, we show that satellite observations of the HDO/H 2 O ratio of water vapor are sensitive to spatiotemporal variations of ET-P over the Amazon. When calibrated by basin-scale and mass-balance estimates of ET-P derived from terrestrial water storage and river discharge measurements, the isotopic data demonstrate that rainfall controls wet Amazon water balance variability, but ET becomes important in regulating water balance and its variability in the dry Amazon. Changes in the drivers of ET, such as above ground biomass, could therefore have a larger impact on soil moisture and humidity in the dry (southern and eastern) Amazon relative to the wet Amazon. 

Large scale synthesis of cycloparaphenyleneacetylenes has been challenging due to low macrocyclization yields and harsh aromatization methods that often decompose strained alkynes. Herein, a cis -stilbene-based building block is subjected to alkyne metathesis macrocylization. The following sequence of alkene-selective bromination and dehydrobromination afforded a [8]cycloparaphenyleneacetylene derivative in high yield with good scalability. X-Ray crystal structure and computational analysis revealed a unique same-rim conformation for the eight methyl groups on the nanohoop.