The purpose of this experiment was to synthesize 9,10-dihydroanthracene-9,10-α,β- succinic anhydride by performing a Diels-Alder reaction of anthracene with maleic anhydride. This reaction can also be called a cycloaddition, because the diene, anthracene, is added to the an alkene, maleic anhydride, to produce a cyclic compound. Since anthracene is a cyclic diene, it also favors an endo product despite sterical hindrance. The Diels-Alder reaction is a very powerful reaction and useful in synthetic organic chemistry due to its good control over regio- and stereochemical properties. Organic techniques, such as reflux and vacuum filtration, are used to perform Diels-Alder reactions. They are not complex reactions, but efficient and widely used.
