Unconventional gas-phase preparation of the prototype polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon naphthalene (C ₁₀ H ₈ ) via the reaction of benzyl (C ₇ H ₇ ) and propargyl (C ₃ H ₃ ) radicals coupled with hydrogen-atom assisted isomerization

the novel Propargyl Addition-BenzAnnulation (PABA) mechanism. The gas-phase preparation of naphthalene affords a versatile concept of the reaction of combustion and astronomically abundant propargyl radicals with aromatic radicals carrying the radical center at the methylene moiety as a previously passed over source of aromatics in high temperature environments thus bringing us closer to an understanding of the aromatic universe we live in.