The Right Strap: The Role of Tether Position and Length in Acene Distortion

We report how the tether position affects the conformation, rigidity, and (chiro)optical properties in anthracene derivatives. While 1,5- and 1,10-tethers (long and short diagonal tethering, respectively) induce comparable twisting, short diagonal tethered derivatives display greater conformational flexibility, significantly impacting fluorescence and chiroptical behavior. Notably, short and long diagonal octyl-tethered anthracenes exhibit inverse temperature-dependent CD responses attributed to thermally accessible twisted conformers. These findings highlight the critical role of the tether position in the design of functional curved aromatics.