trans-1,2-Difluoro-3,4,5,6,7,8-hexaphenyltricyclo$[4.2.0.0^{2,5}]$octa-3,7-diene

In order to probe the possible mechanism of the rearrangement of trans-hexaphenyldifluorotricyclooctadiene (a dimer of fluorotriphenylcyclobutadiene) to pentaphenyldihydrodifluoropentalene via C—F bond migration, a high-temperature study of the title compound, $C_{44}H_{30}F_2$, was performed at 400 (2) K. In the title compound, there are three fused fourmembered rings with the resulting eight-membered tricyclooctadiene ring adopting a sofa conformation. The dihedral angles between the central four-membered ring and the two outer rings are 66.03 (2) and 65.39 $(2)^o$. The crystal structure contains centrosymmetric dimers formed by $C—H...\pi$ interactions