Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol.139, No.51, 18456-18459, 2017
Expanded Helicenes: A General Synthetic Strategy and Remarkable Supramolecular and Solid-State Behavior
A divergent synthetic strategy allowed access to several members of a new class of helicenes, the "expanded helicenes", which are composed of alternating linearly and angularly fused rings. The strategy is based on a three-fold, partially intermolecular [2+2+n] (n = 1 or 2) cycloaddition with substrates containing three diyne units. Investigation of aggregation behavior, both in solution and in the solid state, revealed that one of these compounds forms an unusual homochiral, pi-stacked dimer via an equilibrium that is slow on the NMR time scale. The versatility of the method was harnessed to access a selenophene-annulated expanded helicene that, in contrast to its benzannulated analogue, exhibits long-range stacking in the solid state. The new helicenes possess low racemization barriers, as demonstrated by dynamic H-1 NMR spectroscopy.