Enantioselective Synthesis of Planar Chiral Zigzag-Type Cyclophenylene Belts by Rhodium-Catalyzed Alkyne Cyclotrimerization

Planar chiral zigzag-type [8]- and [12]cyclophenylene (CP) belts have been synthesized in good yields with high ee values of 98% and 83%, respectively, by the rhodium-catalyzed enantioselective intramolecular sequential cyclotrimerizations of the corresponding cyclic polyynes. The observed high enantioselectivity arises from the regioselective formation of a rhodacycle intermediate from an unsymmetric triyne unit. The X-ray crystal structural analysis of the racemic planar chiral zigzag-type [8]CP belt revealed that the uneven molecules mesh with each other to form a one-dimensional columnar packing structure, in which one column contains single enantiomers, giving two types of chiral columns [(S)- and (R)-form columns] arranged alternately. The ring strain of the zigzag-type [8]CP belt was smaller than that of the armchair-type [8]CPP belt despite its smaller ring size, due to the presence of the strain-relieving m-terphenyl moieties. The effect of the number of the benzene rings of the zigzag-type CP belts on absorption and emission peaks was small due to interruption of π-conjugation at the m-phenylene moieties. However, the bending effect on the absolute fluorescence quantum yield as well as absorption and emission peaks was significant. Concerning chiroptical properties, the modest anisotropy dissymmetry factors of ECD and CPL were observed in the [8]CP belt.