AbstractsChemistry

The action of the Grignard reagent on anthraquinones has been reported several times in the litarature but the yields in the few instances where they are stated are generally very low (Table I). Improvements in the technique of Grignard reactions, the discovery in 1929 of l,4-addition of the Grignard reagent, under "forced conditions", to an aromatic nucleus, and the increasing knowledge of polynuclear "flne-structure", that is, the position of "the double-bonds in aromatic rings, have led to a renewed interest in the reaction between Grignard reagents and polynuclear substances.(53.86) The introduction is intended to review some of the methods and results of fine structure determinations and to show the significance of ascertaining whether or not any 1,4-addition of Grignard reagents occurs in the anthraquinone series; a more complete list of the methods of determining finestructure is given in the introduction of Part II. [...]