A family of superhelicenes - Easily tunable, chiral nanographenes by merging helicity with planar π-systems.

Incorporating helicity into large polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) constitutes a new field of research at the interface between chemistry and material sciences. Lately, interest in the design of π-extended helicenes has surged. This new class of twisted, chiral nanographenes not only reveals unique characteristics but also finds its way into emerging applications such as spintronics. Insights into their structure-property relationships and on-demand tuning are scarce. To close these knowledge gaps, we designed a straightforward synthetic route towards a full-fledged family of π-extended helicenes: superhelicenes. Common are two hexa-peri-hexabenzocoronenes (HBCs) connected via a central 5-membered ring. By means of structurally altering this 5-membered ring, we realized a versatile library of molecular building blocks. Not only the superhelicene structure, but also their features are tuned with ease. In-depth physico-chemical characterizations served as a proof of concept thereof. The superhelicene enantiomers were separated, their circular dichroism was measured in preliminary studies and concluded with an enantiomeric assignment. Our work was rounded-off by crystal structure analyses. Mixed stacks of M- and P-isomers led to twisted molecular wires. Using such stacks, charge-carrier mobilities were calculated, giving reason to expect outstanding hole transporting properties.