2,3-Diphenyl- and 2,3,6,7-tetraphenyl-hexa-azatriphenylene, ligands for transition metals.

2,3-Diphenyl-1,4,5,8,9,12-hexa-azatriphenylene 2 and 2,3,6,7-tetraphenyl-1,4,5, 8,9,12-hexa-azatriphenylene 3 can be synthesized by the direct condensation of hexa-aminobenzene with glyoxal and benzil. It is, however, not possible to make specifically one of the compounds, which is always accompanied by the parent compound 1 and the fully substituted hexaphenyl-hexaazatriphenylene 4. It is nevertheless possible to optimize the yields of 2 and 3 by a careful choice of the experimental conditions.