Axially chiral triarylethenes represent a privileged class of scaffolds in asymmetric catalysis and advanced organic materials. Nevertheless, their modular assembly from readily available building blocks has remained challenging. Herein, we report Pd(II)-catalyzed atroposelective C−H arylation of alkenyl C−H bonds using easily accessible arylboronic acids as coupling partners. This transformation proceeds under mild conditions, tolerates a wide range of functional groups, and furnishes the desired products in high yields and enantioselectivities, along with complete Z-selectivity. The synthetic utility of this method is demonstrated through gram-scale synthesis and further derivatization. Notably, the resulting chiral frameworks exhibit compelling chiroptical properties, including pronounced circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) and distinct aggregation-induced emission (AIE) or emission enhancement (AIEE) behavior. These results underscore their potential as versatile building blocks for the design of multifunctional chiral organic materials and advanced chiroptoelectronic devices.
Xu et al. (Mon,) studied this question.