Chiral benzindenes are an unexplored structural motif in the realm of organic synthesis. This is a result of a lack of synthetic protocols for constructing these compounds in which chirality does not arise from additional chiral substituents. This work introduces an unprecedented route toward chiral benzindenes as a new potential structural motif for further exploratory studies. Starting from readily available ( R )‐BINOL, the convergent synthesis over 9 steps culminated in benzindene with embedded chirality into the binaphthyl framework. The synthetic challenges associated with structural decoration are addressed and evaluated, while DFT and NMR structural analysis of the prepared chiral benzindene revealed its molecular characteristics.
Gobin et al. (Fri,) studied this question.