“…As part of our ongoing research projects in the area of novel aromatic compounds, we have already succeeded in the incorporation of a silicon atom into various aromatic ring skeletons by the application of an efficient protecting group, 2,4,6-tris[bis(trimethylsilyl)methyl]phenyl (Tbt), to afford heavier analogues of benzene, naphthalene, anthracene, and phenanthrene. , Studies on their structural and spectroscopic properties together with theoretical calculations indicated that these silaaromatic compounds have much smaller energy gaps between their frontier orbitals than do those of the parent aromatic hydrocarbons, in addition to their high aromaticity. These results clearly show that silaaromatic frameworks are promising for the creation of novel π-conjugated systems containing heavier main-group elements .…”