Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
π-Extended helicenes constitute an important class of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons with intrinsic chirality. Herein, we report the syntheses of π-extended 7helicene 4 and π-extended 9helicene 6 through regioselective cyclodehydrogenation in high yields, where a "prefusion" strategy plays a key role in preventing undesirable aryl rearrangements. The unique helical structures are unambiguously confirmed by X-ray crystal structure analysis. Compared to the parent pristine 7helicene and 9helicene, these novel π-extended helicenes display significantly improved photophysical properties, with a quantum yield of 0.41 for 6. After optical resolution by chiral high-performance liquid chromatography, the chiroptical properties of enantiomers 4-P/M and 6-P/M are investigated, revealing that the small variation in helical length from 7 to 9 can cause an approximately 10-fold increase in the dissymmetry factors. The circularly polarized luminescence brightness of 6 reaches 12.6 M-1 cm-1 as one of the highest among carbohelicenes.
Qiu et al. (2021) studied this question.