Theoretical study of the second-order nonlinear optical properties of [N]helicenes and [N]phenylenes

The second-order nonlinear optical properties of helicenes and phenylenes have been theoretically investigated at the time-dependent Hartree-Fock level using the Austin model 1 semiempirical Hamiltonian. Both the antisymmetric isotropic component of the first hyperpolarizability (beta) and its projection on the dipole moment (beta(parallel)) have been determined for increasingly large helical systems as well as for their analogs substituted by donor/acceptor pairs. It is found that (i) in nonsubstituted helicenes and phenylenes, beta increases monotonically with the size of the system and slightly depends on the nature of the helix; (ii) the corresponding beta(parallel) is mostly determined by the radial component of the first hyperpolarizability vector; (iii) in helicenes, beta(parallel) is positive and presents quasiperiodic oscillations with the helix; (iv) in phenylenes, beta(parallel) depends upon the size of the helix and it can be either positive or negative as a result of the differences in evolution with N of the radial components of the dipole moment and first hyperpolarizability. Substituting the helicenes and phenylenes by the prototypical NH2/NO2 donor/acceptor pair provides a diversity of effects on beta and beta(parallel) that encompasses decrease, increase, and change in sign.     

The synthesis of azoniadithia[6]helicenes

A new short‐step synthesis of 8a‐azonia[6]helicene (1) and the novel dithieno derivatives ( 2 and 3 ) is described. Double photocyclization of 2,8‐distyrylquinolizinium salt (8) gave 1 in 35% yield. Similarly, 2,8‐bis[2‐(2‐thienyl)vinyl]‐ and 2,8‐bis[2‐(3‐thienyl)vinyl]‐quinolizinium salts ( 9 and 10 ) afforded new azonia[6]helicenes containing two thiophene rings at the ends of helix, that is 7a‐azonia‐3,12‐dithia[6]helicene (2) and 7a‐azonia‐1,14‐dithia[6]helicene (3) , in 43 and 35% yields, respectively. The total assignment of their ¹H‐ and ¹³C‐nmr spectra was performed by utilizing two‐dimensional and NOE nmr spectroscopic methods.     

Diastereoselective Strategies towards Thia[n]helicenes

In the present study, we have investigated different strategies for diastereoselective synthesis of thia[n]helicenes. We describe the introduction of different chiral auxiliaries at various positions and investigated their effect in the photocyclization reaction. Different chiral groups were placed at the sterically hindered position of the helical core and their interactions with various solvents and metals like copper were investigated. The use of Cu^I salts has led to high diastereoselectivity in the photocyclization process and we were successful in obtaining the thia[5]helicene in enantiomerically pure form in good yield. The single diastereomer obtained was characterized by X‐ray crystallography. From the study of the barrier of racemization of these thia[5]helicenes, the stability was found to be comparable to unsubstituted tetrathia[7]helicenes and substituted diazadithia[7]helicenes. This approach provides an easy access to enantiopure helicenes.     

Synthesis of carbazole derived aza[7]helicenes

Synthesis of four derivatives of symmetrical aza[7]helicenes is achieved by I₂-THF mediated photocyclization of corresponding bis-styryl derivatives. The cyclization furnished the desired angularly fused aza-helicene in moderate yields. The structures are established by NMR spectroscopy and single crystal X-ray analysis for the difluoro derivative. The series of synthesized aza[7]helicenes showed remarkable thermal stability as indicated by DSC analysis.     

Efficient synthesis of benzo fused tetrathia[7]helicenes

An efficient route toward the synthesis of symmetrical and unsymmetrical benzo fused tetrathia[7]helicenes substituted with electron donor (ED) and electron acceptor (EA) groups is reported. A common, readily available precursor 1,2- bis-(2-thienyl)benzene was used to synthesize different helicenes through a Wittig reaction, Stille coupling, and modified oxidative photocyclization.     

Preparation and structural properties of 7,8-dioxa[6]helicenes and 7a,14c-dihydro-7,8-dioxa[6]helicenes.

The potentially chiral 7,8-dioxa[6]helicenes 1-1c have been prepared by oxidation of their precursors the 7a,14c-dihydro-7,8-dioxa[6]helicenes 3. The crystal structure determination of 3b cis-7a,14c-dihydro-3,12-dibromo-7,8-dioxa[6]helicene unambiguously confirms the cis configuration of the 7a,-14c hydrogens in compounds 3 as previously implied from NMR measurements and also shows that 3b crystallizes in a chiral conformation in the solid state. Selective deuteration of the sterically crowded 1,14 positions of 7,8-dioxa[6]helicene 1 influenced the crystal structure. The deuterium labeled compound D2-1 exhibits a disordered structure, whereas 1 had been found to crystallize in a complex structure which can be described as an analogous partly ordered modulated superstructure. When dehydrogenation of compound 3 to obtain compound 1 was attempted, harsh synthetic conditions gave the unexpected halogenated compounds 5-chloro-7,8-dioxa[6]helicene 1c and cis-7a,14c-dibromo-7,8-dioxa[6]helicene 3c. Compounds 1d and 3b were identified by solving their crystal structure.     

Structure and vibrational spectra of some 8-oxa[5]helicenes

A systematic study has been conducted on the geometrical and electronic structure, heliomeric conformations of a series of 8-oxa[5]helicenes based on density functional theory (DFT) computations. A complete vibrational analysis has also been attempted for one of the 8-oxa[5]helicenes (molecule 5) on the basis of experimental infrared spectra in the far and mid infrared regions (60-3100 cm(-1)) and density functional theory computations using B3LYP/6-31G** method characteristic bands of the molecule identified. The approximate mean plane angle between the terminal rings A and E in the presently studied molecules are found to have values between 48.64° and 59.46°. This angle is much larger than the corresponding angle between the terminal rings in benzo[c]phenanthrene (～27°) and partially reduced benzo[c]phenanthrene (34.6-46.0°) and indicates that the presence of oxygen-containing six-membered ring provides a greater helicity to the molecules. Detailed quantum chemical study on molecule 4 shows the existence of two enantiomeric forms M- and P- of almost equal energy separated by a potential barrier of 15.55 kcal/mol. It is expected that similar 8-oxa[5]helicines (molecules 3, 5 and 6) may also exist in two enantiomeric forms.     

Functionalizations of [6]- and [7]helicenes at their most sterically hindered positions

Although the reactions of enol ethers of aryl methyl ketones with benzoquinone make it easy to prepare nonracemic helicenes that are substituted by hydroxyl groups at their 1,omega-positions, the hydroxyl groups fail to facilitate the introduction of electrophiles ortho to them. However, ethers of [6]- and [7]helicenols prepared in this way, seemingly because of the activation by the alkoxyl groups at the 6-positions, combine with electrophilic reagents to introduce bromines and acyl groups exactly into these positions. Moreover, these bromine and acyl groups can be transformed into other functional groups (including phosphine oxides and acetylenes), the ether functions adjacent to these functional groups can then be removed, and the phenols can be oxidized to quinone-acetals. An alternative way to introduce functional groups next to the phenols is to rearrange their phosphate esters. Two reactions that differentiate the ends of the helicenes are also described.     

Transformation of Thia[7]helicene to Aza[7]helicenes and [7]Helicene-like Compounds via Aromatic Metamorphosis

[n]Helicenes with helically twisted structures have attracted increasing interest owing to their unique properties. Therefore, it has been an important issue to develop facile synthetic methodologies which allow access to a variety of [n]helicenes. Here we report the synthesis of [7]helicenes and [7]helicene-like compounds from the thia[7]helicene as a common starting material. Desulfurative dilithiation of the thia[7]helicene and the subsequent reaction with silicon and phosphorus electrophiles afforded the silole- and phosphole-fused [7]helicene-like compounds, respectively. The cyclopentadiene-fused [7]helicene-like compound and the pyrrole-fused aza[7]helicenes were also successfully synthesized via twofold S_NAr reactions of the thia[7]helicene S,S-dioxide with the carbon and nitrogen nucleophiles, respectively. The thia[7]helicene S,S-dioxide showed a slightly red-shifted absorption spectrum than the parent thia[7]helicene, which was well demonstrated by the theoretical calculations. The substituents on the silicon atom of silole-fused [7]helicene-like compounds have little impact on the longest absorption maximum. Such little effect of the substituents on absorption properties was also observed for cyclopentadiene-fused [7]helicene-like compounds and aza[7]helicenes and was well demonstrated by the theoretical calculations. The thia[7]helicene S,S-dioxide and the silole-fused [7]helicene-like compound exhibited bright blue emission, and the cyclopentadiene-fused [7]helicene-like compound and the aza[7]helicenes showed strong violet emission. Each single enantiomer of the aza[7]helicenes showed circularly-polarized luminescence with the dissymmetry factors of 4.2~4.4 × 10⁻³.     

Synthesis of functionalized dioxa-aza[7]helicenes using palladium catalyzed arylations

Despite the recent reports on transition-metal catalyzed cycloisomerization strategies toward helicenes, the amount of palladium catalyzed routes remains rather scarce. Within this letter the successful preparation and characterization of novel dioxa-aza[7]helicenes using palladium mediated coupling reactions is presented.     

Theoretical and experimental studies on circular dichroism of carbo[n]helicenes

The chiroptical properties of a series of carbo[n]helicenes (n = 4-10) were investigated by the state-of-the-art approximate coupled cluster and density functional theory calculations. The theoretical calculation at the RI-CC2/TZVPP//DFT-D2-B97-D/TZVP level nicely reproduced the experimental CD spectra in both excitation energy and rotational strength without any shift or scaling. These calculations afforded the electric and the magnetic transition dipole moment vectors in [n]helicenes, allowing us to discuss the observed rotational strengths as a function of the number of benzene rings. Although the observed CD intensity was not immediately correlated to any of the calculated parameters, the anisotropy (g) factor of the (1)B(b) band and the specific rotation were found inversely proportional to n and nicely correlated with the helical pitch, but discontinuous at n = 6, where the aromatic rings start to overlap. In contrast, the g factor at the (1)B(a) band was rather insensitive to n. It was also revealed that the excitation energies of the (1)B(b) and (1)B(a) bands are inversely proportional to n over the entire range of n examined. The theoretical predictions also enabled us to rectify the erroneous experimental CD spectra of [5]- and [6]helicenes reported earlier, by using the enantiopure samples resolved by chiral HPLC.     

Thermal cyclodehydrogenations to form 6-membered rings: cyclizations of [5]helicenes

Flash vacuum pyrolysis (FVP) of [5]helicene induces a thermal cyclodehydrogenation to form benzo[ghi]perylene. Evidence is presented that supports an electrocyclization-rearomatization mechanism and is inconsistent with mechanistic alternatives involving the intermediacy of aryl radicals or carbenes in the helicene fjord region.     

The first enantiomerically pure [n]triangulanes and analogues: sigma-[n]helicenes with remarkable features

(M)-(-)- and (P)-(+)-Trispiro[2.0.0.2.1.1]nonanes [(M)- and (P)-3] as well as (M)-(-)- and (P)-(+)-tetraspiro[2.0.0.0.2.1.1.1]undecanes [(M)- and (P)-4]-enantiomerically pure unbranched [4]- and [5]triangulanes-have been prepared starting from racemic bicyclopropylidenecarboxylic [(1RS)-12] and exo-dispiro[2.0.2.1]heptane-1-carboxylic [(1RS,3SR)-13] acids. The optical resolutions of rac-12 and rac-13 furnished enantiomerically pure acids (S)-(+)-12, (R)-(-)-12, (1R,3S)-(-)-13, and (1S,3R)-(+)-13. The ethyl ester (R)-25 of the acid (R)-(-)-12 was cyclopropanated to give carboxylates (1R,3R)-26 and (1R,3S)-26. The ester (1R,3S)-26 and acids (1R,3S)-13 and (1S,3R)-13 were converted into enantiomerically pure methylene[3]triangulanes (S)-(-)- and (R)-(+)-28. An alternative approach consisted of an enzymatic deracemization of endo-[(1SR,3SR)-dispiro[2.0.2.1]heptyl]methanol (rac-20) or anti-[(1SR,3RS)-4-methylenespiropentyl]methanol (rac-18). This afforded (S)-(-)- and (R)-(+)-28 (starting from rac-20), as well as enantiomerically pure (M)-(-)- and (P)-(+)-1,4-dimethylenespiropentanes [(M)- and (P)-23] starting from rac-18. The methylenetriangulanes (S)-(-)- and (R)-(+)-28 were cyclopropanated furnishing (M)- and (P)-3. The rhodium-catalyzed cycloaddition of ethyl diazoacetate onto (S)-(-)- and (R)-(+)-28 yielded four diastereomeric ethyl trispiro[2.0.0.2.1.1]nonane-1-carboxylates in approximately equal proportions. The enantiomerically pure esters (1R,3S,4S)- and (1S,3R,4R)-30 were isolated by careful distillation and then transformed into [5]triangulanes (M)- and (P)-4 using the same sequence of reactions as applied for (M)- and (P)-3. The structures of the key intermediates (R)-12 and rac-31 were confirmed by X-ray analyses. Although [4]- and [5]triangulanes have no chromophore which would lead to any significant absorption above 200 nm, they have remarkably high specific rotations even at 589 nm with [alpha](20)D=-192.7 [(M)-3, c=1.18, CHCl(3))] or +373.0 [(P)-4, c=1.18, CHCl(3))]. This remarkable optical rotatation is in line with their helical arrangement of sigma bonds, as confirmed by a full valence space single excitation configuration interaction treatment (SCI) in conjunction with DFT computations at the B3LYP/TZVP//B3LYP/6-31+G(d,p) level of theory which reproduce the ORD very well. Thus, it is appropriate to call the helically shaped unbranched [n]triangulanes the "sigma-[n]helicenes", representing the sigma-bond analogues of the aromatic [n]helicenes.     

Local aromaticity of [n]acenes, [n]phenacenes, and [n]helicenes (n = 1-9)

The local aromaticity of the six-membered rings in three series of benzenoid compounds, namely, the [n]acenes, [n]phenacenes, and [n]helicenes for n = 1-9, has been assessed by means of three probes of local aromaticity based on structural, magnetic, and electron delocalization properties. For [n]acenes our analysis shows that the more reactive inner rings are more aromatic than the outer rings. For [n]phenacenes, all indicators of aromaticity show that the external rings are the most aromatic. From the external to the central ring, the local aromaticity varies in a damped alternate way. The trends for the [n]helicene series are the same as those found for [n]phenacenes. Despite the departure from planarity in [n]helicenes, only a very slight loss of aromaticity is detected in [n]helicenes as compared to the corresponding [n]phenacenes. Finally, because of magnetic couplings between superimposed six-membered rings in the higher members of the [n]helicenes series, we have demonstrated that the NICS indicator of aromaticity artificially increases the local aromaticity of their most external rings.     

Towards configurationally stable [4]helicenes: enantioselective synthesis of 12-substituted 7,8-dihydro[4]helicene quinones

The synthesis of enantiopure C-12 methoxy- or alkyl-substituted 5,7,8,12b-tetrahydro[4]helicene quinones 16 and 17 and the 7,8-dihydroaromatic analogues 4 and 5 has been achieved from (SS)-2-(p-tolylsulfinyl)-1,4-benzoquinone. In the first series, with a structure containing both central and helical chiralities, the R absolute configuration of the stereogenic carbon atom was defined after the asymmetric cycloaddition step, whereas the P or M helicity was shown to be dependent on the nature of the C-12 substituent. The size of this group was also defining the configurational stability of the final (P)-7,8-dihydro[4]helicene quinones 4 and 5. The interconversion barriers between the P and M helimers in the latter, computed with a DFT B3LYP method, matched well with the experimentally observed stability. Our study provided evidence that, in addition to steric effects, a small but significant role of electronic effects is governing the configurational stability of such helical quinones.     

Aromaticity of ring carbo-mers of [N]annulenes and [N]cycloalkanes

Maps of current density induced by a perpendicular external magnetic field are calculated at the ipsocentric CTOCD-DZ/6-31G**//B3PW91/6-31G** level for ring carbo-mers of [N]-annulenes (closed-shell singlet states of C(3N)H, N = 3 to 7, with q = -1, 0, +1, 0, -1, respectively, and also the triplet ground state for N = 4) and of [N]-cycloalkanes (C(3N)H(qN), N = 3, 4, 5). Strong four-electron diatropic ring currents indicate conventional pi aromaticity for all the singlet and triplet carbo-[N]annulenes studied, with the exception of C(12)H(4), where instead the strong two-electron paratropic ring current is the signature of pi antiaromaticity. The carbo-[N]cycloalkanes (also known as [N]pericyclynes) show only localized pi currents, consistent with non-aromaticity. There is no indication of a 'homo-aromatic' ring current attributable to the in-plane pi orbitals of the inserted C2 units in any of the maps. Consequences for the interpretation of ELF (electron localisation function) populations are discussed.     

Self-assembly and two-dimensional spontaneous resolution of cyano-functionalized [7]helicenes on cu(111)

Birds of a feather flock together: STM and DFT studies provide the first example of spontaneous chiral resolution of a helicene on a surface. Racemic 6,13-dicyano[7]helicene forms fully segregated domains of pure enantiomers (2D conglomerate) on Cu(111). The propensity of the system to optimize intermolecular CN???HC(Ar) hydrogen bonding and CN???CN dipolar interactions translates into chiral recognition with preferential assembly of homochiral molecules.     

A theoretical and experimental study of the racemization process of hexaaza[5]helicenes

A dynamic ¹H NMR study, together with DFT calculations, of bis-([1,2,3]triazolo)[1,5-a:5′,1′-k][1,10]phenanthroline 2 has allowed to identify the ring and open forms of a new example of ring/chain tautomerism, as well as their interconversion barriers (ring/ring and ring/open). The barrier of the exchange process between the chain forms and the ring form was found higher than the ‘racemization’ process in the closed form, so the ring opening does not contribute to the ‘racemization’. The di-1,10-methyl and di-1,10-iodo derivatives have been prepared and their properties calculated.     

Synthesis of chiral [5]helicenes using aromatic oxy-Cope rearrangement as a key step

Both enantiomers of (P)-(+)-2- and (M)-(−)-2-acetoxy-11,14-dimethyl[5]helicenes 8 were synthesized by asymmetric aromatic oxy-Cope rearrangement of the corresponding chiral bridged bicyclic compounds, which were obtained by enzymatic resolution. The absolute configurations of 8 were assigned by their circular dichroism spectra.