Twistar

Large chiral polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), referred to as chiral nanographenes, form a class of molecules of enormous interest. These molecules can exist as several diastereomers, each existing as a pair of enantiomers (except for meso compounds), that can more or less rapidly interconvert depending on their flexibility. Unprecedented distortions were measured on the honeycomb network of some highly twisted chiral nanographenes, raising new synthetic and theoretical interests and a demand for more warped PAH structures. Of paramount importance for this proposal, the paradigm considered herein is that distorted benzenoid systems lose some of their local aromatic character, strongly affecting their electronic properties.

We propose fundamental research in the burgeoning field of chiral nanographenes obtained by controlled organic synthesis.The project aims at providing deep insights on the potential, limits and true nature of highly twisted large chiral Polycyclic Aromatic –or not– Hydrocarbons using a global approach combining experimental synthetic organic chemistry and experimental and theoretical physical organic chemistry. This project received financial support from the French Agence Nationale de la Recherche – ANR (ANR-19-CE07-0041-01).