New and Efficient Approach to the Versatile Building Block of 3,4-Perylenedicarboxylic Monoanhydride

By a controllable and stepwise strategy, we have efficiently synthesized 3,4-perylenedicarboxylic monoanhydride (PDCMA), an important pigment and a versatile building block, in a gram-scale preparation. The mild reaction conditions, high yields, and simple postprocessing of the routes make it suitable for lab preparation and industrial production, which successfully achieves the challenge to avoid harsh reaction conditions, low yields, and difficult purification. Furthermore, using PDCMA and brominated PDCMA as the starting materials, we have also efficiently synthesized many perylene monoimide dyes in high yields.