Cycloheptatriene is not aromatic, as reflected by the nonplanarity of the methylene bridge (-CH2-) with respect to the other atoms; however the related tropylium cation is.

This synthesis started from cycloheptanone and established the seven membered ring structure of the compound.

[4] Cycloheptatriene can be obtained in the laboratory by photochemical reaction of benzene with diazomethane or the pyrolysis of the adduct of cyclohexene and dichlorocarbene.

[8] CHT behaves as a diene in Diels–Alder reactions, for example with maleic anhydride:[9] Many metal complexes of cycloheptatriene are known, including Cr(CO)3(C7H8) [10] and cycloheptatrienemolybdenum tricarbonyl.

[11] Cyclooctatetraene and cycloheptatriene are used as a triplet quencher for rhodamine 6G dye lasers.