The enthalpie
s of formation [
![](/image<font color=)
s/gifchar
s/Delta.gif" BORDER=0 >
![](/i<font color=)
sub
scribe/journal
s/jac
sat/125/i49/eqn/ja0374628e10001.gif">(g)] of tricyclo[8.2.2.2
4,7]hexadeca-1(13),2,4(16),5,7(15),10(14),11-heptaene (
2, 1,2-dehydro[2.2]paracyclophane or [2.2]paracyclophane-1-ene) and tricyclo[8.2.2.2
4,7]hexadeca-1(13),2,4(16),5,7(15),8,10(14),11-octaene (
3, 1,2,9,10-dehydro[2.2]paracyclophane or [2.2]paracyclophane-1,9-diene) have been determined by mea
suring their heat
s of combu
stion in a microcalorimeterand their heat
s of
sublimation by the tran
spiration method. Value
s of the
strain energie
s (
SE) [
SE(
2) =34.7 kcal mol
-1,
SE(
3) = 42.0 kcal mol
-1] have been derived from the ga
s-pha
se heat
s of formation andare compared with tho
se from MM3 and PM3 calculation
s and with the corre
sponding value
SE(
1) = 30.1kcal mol
-1 for the parent tricyclo[8.2.2.2
4,7]hexadeca-1(13),4(16),5,7(15),10(14),11-hexaene (
1, [2.2]paracyclophane). The higher
strain energie
s of
2 and
3 (by 4.6 and 11.9 kcal mol
-1) are in accord with thewell-known increa
sed reactivitie
s of their aromatic ring
s a
s a con
sequence of their increa
sed bending. A
srevealed by an X-ray cry
stal
structure analy
si
s, the bending in the monoene
2 corre
spond
s to that of
1 and
3 at one of two bridging corner
s.