This report is a continuation of the investigation into the reactions of the adducts obtained when alkali metals are treated with aryl-substituted alkenes (l), The alkene used in the present study is stilbene, the sodium adduct of which has been treated with triethyl phosphate and with alkyl halides in several reaction media.Although tetrahydrofuran has been used successfully, the most common solvent employed in formation and reaction of the adduct has been 2,5-dioxahexane (1 ,2-dimethoxyethane) (1). Now it has been found that the rate of adduct formation in the latter solvent is closely comparable with the rate in 3 ,G-dioxaoctane. Thus a 50 % yield of adduct is obtained in 20 minutes in the first of these diethers and in 23 minutes in the second, but 35 minutes is required when the stilbenedisodium adduct is prepared in 3,6,9-trioxaundecane. These yields are determined by carbonation.Previously it has been assumed that these adducts were stable in the glycol ether solvents, but we now have found that slow ether-fission does occur. In order to accentuate this tendency the stilbene-disodium adduct is prepared a t 100" in 3,G-dioxaoctane. Carbonation of an aliquot gives a 50 % yield of meso-diphenylsuccinic acid after three minutes, while five minutes after the introduction of the sodium the yield is 74 mole-per cent. However this yield decreases to 37 % after 15 minutes. After three hours a t 100" there is no evidence of stilbene-disodium adduct, but 90 % can be isolated as 1,2-diphenylethane (11). One may presume that this fission of the ether proceeds via an adduct-ether coordination compound such as I, although the possible participation of the R group must be RO H