A CONVENIENT REDUCTION OF FUNCTIONALIZED POLYCYCLIC AROMATICS INTO PARENT HYDROCARBONS
Polycyclic aromatics with various functional group (e.g.OH, OR, SR, and halogen) were easily defunctionalized by aluminum chloride and ethanethiol to give parent aromatics in high yields under mild conditions.This reaction proceeds through sulfide as the intermediate, hence it is also useful for the synthesis of sulfides of polycyclic aromatics.