Helical Oligophenylene Linked with [2.2]Paracyclophane: Stereogenic π-Conjugated Dye for Highly Emissive Chiroptical Properties

Structure and Chiroptical Properties of Anthra[1,2-a]anthracene-1-yl Dimers as New Biaryls

Dimers of anthra[1,2-a]anthracene-1-yl units and its mesityl derivative were synthesized by Ni(0)-mediated coupling of the corresponding chloro derivatives as new biaryls. The X-ray analysis and DFT calculations revealed that two polycyclic aromatic units with nonplanar deformations took a twisted conformation about the single bond as a chiral axis. Enantiomers of the nonsubstituted compound were resolved by chiral HPLC, and the enantiopure samples showed intense Cotton effects at 321 nm in the circular dichroism (CD) spectra and emission bands at 449 nm in the circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) spectra with dissymmetry factor of |glum| 3.6×10-3. The absolute stereochemistry of this biaryl was determined by the theoretical calculation of CD spectrum by the time-dependent DFT method. The barrier to enantiomerization was determined to be 108 kJ mol-1 at 298 K. The dynamic process proceeded via a stepwise mechanism involving the helical inversion of each aromatic unit and the rotation about the biaryl axis as analyzed by the DFT calculations.

Circularly Polarized Luminescence of Thiophene-Bridged Macrocyclic pseudo-meta [2.2]Paracyclophanes

Chiral organic molecules possessing high quantum yields, circular dichroism, and circularly polarized luminescence values have great potential as optically active materials for future applications. Recently, the identification of a promising class of inherently chiral compounds was reported, namely macrocyclic 1,3-butadiyne-linked pseudo-meta[2.2]paracyclophanes, displaying high circular dichroism and related gabs values albeit modest quantum yields. Increasing the quantum yields in an attempt to get bright circularly polarized light emitters, the high-yielding heterocyclization of those 1,3-butadiyne bridges resulting in macrocyclic 2,5-thienyls-linked pseudo-meta [2.2]paracyclophanes is herein described. The chiroptical properties of both, the previously reported 1,3-butadiyne, and the novel 2,5-thienyl bridged macrocycles of various sizes, are experimentally recorded, and theoretically described using density-functional theory.

Rapid Synthesis of Chiral Figure-Eight Macrocycles Using a Preorganized Natural Product-Based Scaffold

Chiral D2 -symmetric figure-eight shaped macrocycles are promising scaffolds for amplifying the chiroptical properties of π-conjugated systems. By harnessing the inherent and adaptable conformational dynamics of a chiral C2 -symmetric bispyrrolidinoindoline (BPI) manifold, we developed an enantio-divergent modular synthetic platform to rapidly generate a diverse range of chiral macrocycles, spanning from 14- to 66-membered rings, eliminating the need for optical resolution. Notably, a 32-membered figure-eight macrocycle showed excellent circularly polarized luminescence (CPL: |glum |=1.1×10-2 ) complemented by a robust emission quantum yield (Φfl =0.74), to achieve outstanding CPL brightness (BCPL : ϵ×Φfl ×|glum |/2=480). Using quadruple Sonogashira couplings, this versatile synthetic platform enables precise adjustments of the angle, distance, and length among intersecting π-conjugated chromophores. Our synthetic strategy offers a streamlined and systematic approach to significantly enhance BCPL values for a variety of chiral D2 -symmetric figure-eight macrocycles.

Recent Progress in Research on [2.2]Paracyclophane-Based Dyes

In recent years, the [2.2]paracyclophane (PCP) ring has attracted extensive attention due to its features of providing not only chirality and electron-donating ability but also steric hindrance, which reduces intermolecular π-π stacking interactions and thereby improves the fluorescence properties of dyes. To date, some circularly polarized luminescence (CPL)-active small organic molecules based on the PCP skeleton have been reviewed; however, the application of the PCP ring in improving the photophysical properties of fluorescent dyes is still limited, and new molecular design strategies are still required. This review summarizes and promotes the application of PCP in fluorescent dye design, fluorescence detection, and CPL modulation. We expect that this review will provide readers with a comprehensive understanding of the PCP skeleton and lead to further improvement in fluorescent dye design.

Synthesis of Two Novel Optically Active #-Shaped Cyclic Tetramers Based on Planar Chiral [2.2]Paracyclophanes

This study reports the synthesis of optically active cyclic tetramers comprising four stacked π-electron systems from two enantiomerically pure [2.2]paracyclophane compounds (bis-(para)-pseudo-ortho- and bis-(para)-pseudo-meta-tetrasubstituted [2.2]paracyclophane compounds). Depending on the combination of the absolute configurations of the planar chiral pseudo-ortho- and pseudo-meta-[2.2]paracyclophane units, the cyclic tetramers formed either parallel-#- or weave-#-structures. The optical and chiroptical properties of both structures were investigated experimentally and theoretically. In particular, the weave-#-shaped cyclic tetramer exhibited good chiroptical properties and emitted circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) with a high anisotropy factor (|g_lum | value of the order of 10^-3 ) and a CPL brightness (B_CPL ) higher than 100.

Intense Molar Circular Dichroism in Fully Conjugated All-Carbon Macrocyclic 1,3-Butadiyne Linked pseudo-meta [2.2]Paracyclophanes

The synthetic access to macrocyclic molecular topologies with interesting photophysical properties has greatly improved thanks to the successful implementation of organic and inorganic corner units. Based on recent reports, we realized that pseudo-meta [2.2]paracyclophanes (PCPs) might serve as optimal corner units for constructing 3D functional materials, owing to their efficient electronic communication, angled substituents and planar chirality. Herein, we report the synthesis, characterization and optical properties of four novel all-carbon enantiopure macrocycles bearing three to six pseudo-meta PCPs linked by 1,3-butadiyne units. The macrocycles were obtained by a single step from enantiopure, literature-known dialkyne pseudo-meta PCP and were unambiguously identified and characterized by state of the art spectroscopic methods and in part even by x-ray crystallography. By comparing the optical properties to relevant reference compounds, it is shown that the pseudo-meta PCP subunit effectively elongates the conjugated system throughout the macrocyclic backbone, such that already the smallest macrocycle consisting of only three subunits reaches a polymer-like conjugation length. Additionally, it is shown that the chiral pseudo-meta PCPs induce a remarkable chiroptical response in the respective macrocycles, reaching unprecedented high molar circular dichroism values for all-carbon macrocycles of up to 1307 L mol^-1  cm^-1 .