Derivatives of tetraphenylmethane and tetraphenylsilane: Synthesis of new tetrahedral building blocks for molecular construction

Useful derivatives of tetraphenylmethane and tetraphenylsilane have been synthesized by efficient methods that give crystalline products without chromatographic purification. New compounds include tetrakis(4-hydroxyphenyl)methane (21), tetrakis(4-formylphenyl)methane (22), tetrakis[(4-hydroxymethyl)phenyl]methane (23), tetrakis(4-bromophenyl)silane (24), tetrakis(4-iodophenyl)silane (25), tetrakis(4-hydroxyphenyl)silane (26), tetrakis[(4-hydroxymethyl)phenyl]silane (27), and tetrakis[(4-chloromethyl)phenyl]silane (28). These compounds are valuable precursors for the construction of complex molecules with tetrahedral geometries.