New Strategies for Synthesizing Short Sections of Carbon Nanotubes

Harbingers of single-chirality nanotubes: Lessons learned from recent syntheses of cyclophanes with record numbers of benzene rings embedded in the macrocycle (see picture) have brought chemists closer to the goal of obtaining structurally uniform single-walled carbon nanotubes made-to-order. The syntheses of the cyclophanes rely on the aromatization of less-strained dihydroaromatic ring systems in the last step to build in the strain.