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Nanographenes are of increasing importance owing to their potential applications in the photoelectronic field. Meanwhile, recent studies have primarily focused on the pure electronic spectra of nanographenes, which have been found to be inadequate for describing the experimental spectra that contain vibronic progressions. In this study, we focused on the vibronic effect on the electronic transition of a range of chiral nanographenes, especially in the low-energy regions with distinct vibronic progressions, using theoretical calculations. All the calculations were performed at the PBE0-D3(BJ)/def2-TZVP level of theory, adopting both time-dependent and time-independent approaches with Franck–Condon approximation. The resulting calculated curves exhibited good alignment with the experimental data. Notably, for the nanographenes incorporating helicene units, owing to the increasing π-extension, the major vibronic modes in the vibrationally resolved spectra differed significantly from those of the primitive helicenes. This investigation suggests that calculations that account for the vibronic effect could have better reproducibility compared with calculations based solely on pure electronic transitions. We anticipate that this study could pave the way for further investigations into optical and chiroptical properties, with a deeper understanding of the vibronic effect, thereby providing theoretical explanations with higher precision on more sophisticated nanographenes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Site-selective C(sp3)–H arylation is an appealing strategy to synthesize complex arene structures but remains a challenge facing synthetic chemists. Here we report the use of photoredox-mediated hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) catalysis to accomplish the site-selective α-C(sp3)–H arylation of dialkylamine-derived ureas through 1,4-radical aryl migration, by which a wide array of benzylamine motifs can be incorporated to the medicinally relevant systems in the late-stage installation steps. In contrast to previous efforts, this C–H arylation protocol exhibits specific site-selectivity, proforming predominantly on sterically more-hindered secondary and tertiary α-amino carbon centers, while the C–H functionalization of sterically less-hindered N-methyl group can be effectively circumvented in most cases. Moreover, a diverse range of multi-substituted piperidine derivatives can be obtained with excellent diastereoselectivity. Mechanistic and computational studies demonstrate that the rate-determining step for methylene C–H arylation is the initial H atom abstraction, whereas the radical ipso cyclization step bears the highest energy barrier for N-methyl functionalization. The relatively lower activation free energies for secondary and tertiary α-amino C–H arylation compared with the functionalization of methylic C–H bond lead to the exceptional site-selectivity. Site-selective C(sp3)–H arylation is an appealing strategy to synthesize complex arene structures but remains a challenge facing synthetic chemists. Here the authors report the use of photoredox-mediated hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) catalysis to accomplish the site-selective α-C(sp3)–H arylation of dialkylamine-derived ureas through 1,4-radical aryl migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Porous frameworks constructed via noncovalent interactions show wide potential in molecular separation and gas adsorption. However, it remains a major challenge to prepare these materials from low-symmetry molecular building blocks. Herein, we report a facile strategy to fabricate noncovalent porous crystals through modular self-assembly of a low-symmetry helicene racemate. The P and M enantiomers in the racemate first stack into right- and left-handed triangular prisms, respectively, and subsequently the two types of prisms alternatively stack together into a hexagonal network with one-dimensional channels with a diameter of 14.5 Å. Remarkably, the framework reveals high stability upon heating to 275 °C, majorly due to the abundant π-interactions between the complementarily engaged helicene building blocks. Such porous framework can be readily prepared by fast rotary evaporation, and is easy to recycle and repeatedly reform. The refined porous structure and enriched π-conjugation also favor the selective adsorption of a series of small molecules. Porous frameworks constructed via noncovalent interactions show potential in molecular separation and gas adsorption but it is challenging to prepare these materials from low symmetry molecular building blocks. Herein, the authors report a strategy to fabricate noncovalent porous crystals through modular self-assembly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, DFT theoretical calculations were employed to investigate the enantiomerization of helicenes embedded with five‐membered heterocycles. The original benzene rings in the helicene backbone were replaced by heterocycles such as furan, thiophene, pyrrole, or phosphole to create [n]helicenes with n ranging from 4 to 7. The impact of the type, position, and number of heterocycles on the enantiomerization barrier was systematically evaluated. Notably, the enantiomerization barrier was found to be significantly dependent on the rotatory angle and the position of the heterocycles, particularly for [4, 5]helicenes. With less rotatory angle of heterocycle, the enantiomerization barrier of helicenes was revealed to be lower, while when the heterocycle was close to the central part of the helicene chain, the barrier was also lower. Furthermore, the number of thiophene rings also had a marked effect on enantiomerization, showing a decrease of the barrier with more thiophene rings placed on the helicenes backbone. We expect this work would deliver new perspective on the relative studies for the helicene conformational conversion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report a unique category of π‐extended diaza[7]helicenes with double negative curvatures. This is achieved by two‐fold regioselective heptagonal cyclization of the oligoarylene‐carbazole precursors through either intramolecular C−H arylation or Scholl reaction. The fusion of two heptagonal rings in the helical skeleton dramatically increases the intramolecular strain and forces the two terminal carbazole moieties to stack in a compressed fashion. The presence of the deformable negatively curved heptagonal rings endows the resulting diaza[7]helicenes with dynamic chiral skeletons, aggregation‐induced emission feature and relatively low racemization barrier of ca. 25.6 kcal mol−1. Further π‐extension on the carbazole moieties subsequently leads to a more sophisticated C2‐symmetric homochiral triple helicene. Notably, these π‐extended diaza[7]helicenes show structure‐dependent stacking upon crystallization, switching from heterochiral packing to intra‐layer homochiral stacking. Interestingly, the C2‐symmetric triple helicene molecules spontaneously resolve into a homochiral lamellar structure with 31 helix symmetry. Upon ultrasonication in a nonsolvent, the crystals can be readily exfoliated into large‐area ultrathin nanosheets with height of ca. 4.4 nm corresponding to two layers of stacked triple helicene molecules and relatively thicker nanosheets constituted by even‐numbered molecular lamellae. Moreover, regular hexagonal thin platelets with size larger than 30 μm can be readily fabricated by flash aggregation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report a unique category of π‐extended diaza[7]helicenes with double negative curvatures. This is achieved by two‐fold regioselective heptagonal cyclization of the oligoarylene‐carbazole precursors through either intramolecular C−H arylation or Scholl reaction. The fusion of two heptagonal rings in the helical skeleton dramatically increases the intramolecular strain and forces the two terminal carbazole moieties to stack in a compressed fashion. The presence of the deformable negatively curved heptagonal rings endows the resulting diaza[7]helicenes with dynamic chiral skeletons, aggregation‐induced emission feature and relatively low racemization barrier of ca. 25.6 kcal mol−1. Further π‐extension on the carbazole moieties subsequently leads to a more sophisticated C2‐symmetric homochiral triple helicene. Notably, these π‐extended diaza[7]helicenes show structure‐dependent stacking upon crystallization, switching from heterochiral packing to intra‐layer homochiral stacking. Interestingly, the C2‐symmetric triple helicene molecules spontaneously resolve into a homochiral lamellar structure with 31 helix symmetry. Upon ultrasonication in a nonsolvent, the crystals can be readily exfoliated into large‐area ultrathin nanosheets with height of ca. 4.4 nm corresponding to two layers of stacked triple helicene molecules and relatively thicker nanosheets constituted by even‐numbered molecular lamellae. Moreover, regular hexagonal thin platelets with size larger than 30 μm can be readily fabricated by flash aggregation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on investigating the spring properties of helicenes through DFT theoretical calculations. The energy change during stretching was observed by incrementally scanning the distance between both ends of the helicene from its stable state. The stiffness (k value) of each helicene was also determined at different stretching states. Interestingly, the k value was found to be non-constant during stretching, suggesting that helicenes do not behave as ideal springs. Furthermore, the effects of heteroatom doping and lateral π-extension on [6]helicene were examined, indicating that these factors have minimal impact on the spring nature of helicenes. Additionally, the study extended to longer helicenes, namely [12] and [18]helicenes. It was observed that the stiffness at the middle part of the helicene is greater than at the terminal parts, and the helical structures begin to collapse when the stretching length reaches approximately 2.5 times the stable state. We expected this work could bring innovative concept in future design of molecular devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enantiopure helicenes have been extensively investigated due to their outstanding chiroptical properties, while helicene racemates are considered as chiroptically silent. Here, we describe a facile method to produce circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) from helicene racemates via supramolecular association with DNA in aqueous solution. Racemic cationic helicene derivatives are immobilized in the grooves of commercially available double‐stranded right‐handed DNA, and the discrimination of left‐ and right‐handed helicenes by chiral DNA is monitored by single molecule force spectroscopy. This subsequently leads to the generation of prominent CPL with dissymmetric factor |glum| of close to 0.01, which is approximate to enantiopure helicenes. The strategy developed in this work avoids the tedious and expensive chiral resolution process and provides a distinctive insight into the fabrication of CPL‐emitting systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tokamaks are the most promising way for nuclear fusion reactors. Disruption in tokamaks is a violent event that terminates a confined plasma and causes unacceptable damage to the device. Machine learning models have been widely used to predict incoming disruptions. However, future reactors, with much higher stored energy, cannot provide enough unmitigated disruption data at high performance to train the predictor before damaging themselves. Here we apply a deep parameter-based transfer learning method in disruption prediction. We train a model on the J-TEXT tokamak and transfer it, with only 20 discharges, to EAST, which has a large difference in size, operation regime, and configuration with respect to J-TEXT. Results demonstrate that the transfer learning method reaches a similar performance to the model trained directly with EAST using about 1900 discharge. Our results suggest that the proposed method can tackle the challenge in predicting disruptions for future tokamaks like ITER with knowledge learned from existing tokamaks. Tokamak devices currently hold the technological advance to be considered the most promising approach to fusion energy, but disruption events prediction is a major challenge for larger devices. The authors show that a machine learning model trained on a smaller tokamak holds promises for transfer of knowledge of disrupting violent events prediction to another, larger tokamak. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oxime ethers are of great importance in the field of pharmaceutical chemicals and polymer materials. Herein, we have developed a straightforward synthetic method to prepare oxime ethers starting from tetrahydrofuran or other cyclic ethers and various oxime derivatives with tetrabromomethane as a mediator. A plausible mechanism indicates that tetrabromomethane is first cleaved by visible light irradiation, and the derived radicals transform tetrahydrofuran into its cationic species, which then reacts with oxime to form the target oxime ethers with the formation of a C–O bond. This novel oxidative cross-coupling reaction can be carried out under transition metal-free and mild conditions with good functional group tolerance, and is easy to scale-up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rotating resonant magnetic perturbation (RMP) could lock the tearing mode (TM) and prevent disruption. It is found that the TM instantaneous frequency oscillates during TM locking on the RMP. In this work, the TM frequency oscillation was derived analytically based on the toroidal torque balance, which was verified experimentally. It is found that two peaks with higher frequency (2fTM0-fRMP) and lower frequency (fRMP) occurred in the spectrum when the window width of FFT was shorter than the TM frequency oscillating period. Those two peaks were explained analytically based on the description of TM instantaneous frequency. The independence of the temporal information and the spatial information of the TM was explained analytically and verified by the spatial structure analysis of each peaks. This work is important for mode structure identification and provides a scheme for mode coupling control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Synthetic innovation for constructing sophisticated nanographenes is of fundamental significance for a variety of advanced applications. Herein, we report a distinctive method to prepare π‐extended chiral nanographenes with 29 benzenoid rings and two helical breaches from a highly crowded perylene‐cored oligoarylene precursor. Under Scholl's conditions, the reaction predominantly involves the regioselective and sequential cyclization in the peri‐ and bay regions of the perylene core, and the complanation of the 1‐phenyl[5]helicene intermediate module via 1,2‐phenyl migration. The resulting chiral nanographenes are configurationally stable at 180 °C due to the high diastereomerization barriers of ca. 45 kcal mol−1. These molecules also possess globally delocalized π‐systems with low HOMO/LUMO gaps, leading to nearly panchromatic absorption, intensive electronic circular dichroism signals and deep‐red circularly polarized luminescence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Synthetic innovation for constructing sophisticated nanographenes is of fundamental significance for a variety of advanced applications. Herein, we report a distinctive method to prepare π‐extended chiral nanographenes with 29 benzenoid rings and two helical breaches from a highly crowded perylene‐cored oligoarylene precursor. Under Scholl's conditions, the reaction predominantly involves the regioselective and sequential cyclization in the peri‐ and bay regions of the perylene core, and the complanation of the 1‐phenyl[5]helicene intermediate module via 1,2‐phenyl migration. The resulting chiral nanographenes are configurationally stable at 180 °C due to the high diastereomerization barriers of ca. 45 kcal mol−1. These molecules also possess globally delocalized π‐systems with low HOMO/LUMO gaps, leading to nearly panchromatic absorption, intensive electronic circular dichroism signals and deep‐red circularly polarized luminescence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanographenes are emerging as a distinctive class of functional materials for electronic and optical devices. It is of remarkable significance to enrich the precise synthetic chemistry for these molecules. Herein, we develop a facile strategy to recompose helicenes into chiral nanographenes through a unique oxidative cyclo-rearrangement reaction. Helicenes with 7~9 ortho-fused aromatic rings are firstly oxidized and cyclized, and subsequently rearranged into nanographenes with an unsymmetrical helicoid shape through sequential 1,2-migrations. Such skeletal reconstruction is virtually driven by the gradual release of the strain of the highly distorted helicene skeleton. Importantly, the chirality of the helicene precursor can be integrally inherited by the resulting nanographene. Thus, a series of chiral nanographenes are prepared from a variety of carbohelicenes and heterohelicenes. Moreover, such cyclo-rearrangement reaction can be sequentially or simultaneously associated with conventional oxidative cyclization reactions to ulteriorly enrich the geometry diversity of nanographenes, aiming at innovative properties. Nanographenes are emerging as a distinctive class of functional materials for electronic and optical devices. Here, the authors develop a facile strategy to recompose helicenes into a variety of chiral nanographenes through an oxidative cyclo-rearrangement reaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Major disruptions, often caused by locked m/n = 2/1 modes (m/n is the poloidal/toroidal mode number), are great threat to a tokamak fusion reactor and should be mitigated or avoided. The locked 2/1 modes have been unlocked by electrode biasing (EB) for the first time in J-TEXT tokamak experiments. The application of a sufficiently negative EB voltage in plasma edge region quickly changes the phase and amplitude of the locked 2/1 mode and drives the mode to rotate in about 10–30 ms. For a larger EB current or a smaller locked mode amplitude, the mode is more easily to be unlocked, revealing a new method for mode unlocking and avoiding plasma disruptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The field penetration threshold of magnetic perturbations has been observed to vary non-monotonically with an increase of density in ohmic plasmas on the J-TEXT tokamak. This observation appears contradicting the previous empirical density scaling law. Disentanglement of plasma density and rotation dependences of the field penetration threshold has been carried out. It shows that the field penetration threshold depends only weakly on the density but linearly on the plasma rotation. This result is not only important for the prediction of error field tolerance in fusion devices, but also opens a question on the role of density in the forced magnetic reconnection process in magnetized plasmas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the high frequency response of the Mirnov probe based on a test platform, which is capable of generating a uniform AC magnetic field within the frequency range of 1–300 kHz. The eddy current effect is quantitatively reflected by the phase shift ϕc and normalized amplitude δ of the measured magnetic field between cases with and without a conducting plate located near the Mirnov probe. This method compensates the resonant effect in the Mirnov probe circuit and hence reflects purely the eddy current effect. The eddy current effect increases with the decrease in the distance between the probe and the conducting plate. With the increase in frequency, the magnitude of δ decreases to a saturated value at 10 kHz but increases significantly above 100 kHz for 304-stainless steel, while the eddy current effect with graphite appears at around 10 kHz and the magnitude of δ decreases to the minimum at 125 kHz, followed by a significant increase above 125 kHz. With the increase in f, the magnitude of ϕc increased until 2.5 kHz and 40 kHz for steel and graphite, respectively, then decreased with a further increase in f. The phasor expression is introduced to describe the AC magnetic field and allows an easy expression of the eddy current field. The phase of the eddy current field decreases toward −180° with f. The amplitude of the eddy current field increases with f and reaches its maximum when the skin depth reduces to a critical value. The eddy current field decreases with a further increase in the frequency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Correction for 'Visible light-triggered synthesis of oxime ethers using tetrabromomethane as a mediator' by Meng Tu et al., New J. Chem., 2022, 46, 23276–23281, https://doi.org/10.1039/D2NJ04615F. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introducing one or two alkynyl–iron moieties onto a carbo[6]helicene results in organometallic helicenes (2 a,b) that display strong chiroptical activity combined with efficient redox‐triggered switching. The neutral and oxidized forms have been studied in detail by electronic and vibrational circular dichroism, as well as by Raman optical activity (ROA) spectroscopy. The experimental results were analyzed and spectra were assigned with the help of first‐principles calculations. In particular, a recently developed method for ROA calculations under resonance conditions has been used to study the intricate resonance effects on the ROA spectrum of mono‐iron ethynylhelicene 2 a. Ironing in kinks: Introducing one or two alkynyl–iron moieties onto a carbo[6]helicene results in organometallic helicenes that display strong chiroptical activity combined with efficient redox‐triggered switching (see figure). The chiroptical properties and redox‐switching activity of iron alkynylhelicenes determined experimentally and theoretically are reported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We report the co‐assembly of aromatic donor (D) and acceptor (A) molecules into purple sponge‐like supramolecular gels through susceptible charge transfer interactions with the aid of solvophobic interactions. The gel remained intact with the addition of up to 23 % (v/v) of nonpolar good solvents, such as toluene and xylene, but dissociated in the presence of <2 % (v/v) of polar solvents, such as tetrahydrofuran, ethyl acetate, and alcohols, with highly distinguishable changes of color. Notably, the gel dissolved within 1 min and the solution turned blue when 0.1 % (v/v) of methanol was added. The response to trifluoroacetic acid was extremely sensitive (i.e., the gel vanished immediately in the presence of 2 equivalents of trifluoroacetic acid), and the subsequent addition of trimethylamine could recover the purple gel. The multiple and visible response thus render the D–A gels as a potential detector for sensing complex chemical environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Impact of the enantiopurity on organic photovoltaics (OPV) performance was investigated through the synthesis of racemic and enantiomerically pure naphthalimide end-capped helicenes and their application as non-fullerene molecular electron acceptors in OPV devices. A very strong increase of the device performance was observed by simply switching from the racemic to the enantiopure forms of these π-helical non-fullerene acceptors with power conversion efficiencies jumping from 0.4 to about 2.0 % in air-processed poly(3-hexylthiophene)-based devices, thus highlighting the key role of enantiopurity in the photovoltaic properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Four members of a new class of cycloborylated hexa-, octa-, and deca-helicenes ( 1 a- d) have been prepared in enantiopure form, along with two cycloplatinated deca-helicenes ( 1 d′, 1 d1), further extending the family of cycloplatinated hexa- and octa-helicenes reported previously. The azabora[ n]helicenes display intense electronic circular dichroism and large optical rotations; the dependence of the optical activity on the size of the helix ( n=6, 8, 10) and the number of boron atoms (1 or 2) has been examined in detail both experimentally and theoretically. The photophysical properties (nonpolarized and circularly polarized luminescence) of these new fluorescent organic helicenes have been measured and compared with the corresponding organometallic phosphorescent cycloplatinated derivatives ( 1 a1- d1). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The combination of a bis-alkynyl-helicene moiety with two iron centers leads to novel electroactive species displaying unprecedented redox-triggered chiroptical switching. Upon oxidation, strong changes of vibrational modes (either local or extended coupled modes) are detected by vibrational circular dichroism and Raman optical activity. Remarkably, the sign of the optical rotation at 1.54 mm (that is, at wavelengths typically used for telecommunications) changes upon oxidation while the topology and stereochemistry of the helicene remain unchanged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acetylated and/or 3,5-dimethylphenylcarbamated riboflavins were prepared and the resulting riboflavin derivatives as well as natural riboflavin were regioselectively immobilized on silica gel through chemical bonding at the 5'-O- or 3-N-position of the riboflavin to develop novel chiral stationary phases (CSPs) for enantioseparation by high-performance (HPLC). The abilities of the obtained CSPs were significantly dependent on the structures of the riboflavin derivatives, the position of the chemical bonding on the silica gel, and the structures of the racemic compounds. The CSPs bonded at the 5'-O-position on the silica gel tended to well separate helicene derivatives, while the CSPs bonded at the 3-N-position composed of acetylated and 3,5-dimethylphenylcarbamated riboflavins showed a better resolving ability toward helicene derivatives and bulky aromatic racemic alcohols, respectively, and some of them were completely separated into the enantiomers. The observed difference in the abilities of these riboflavin-based CSPs is discussed based on the difference in their structures, including the substituents of riboflavin and the positions immobilized on the silica gel. Chirality 27:507-517, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Homochiral and heterochiral cis-bis-cycloplatinated-[6]helicene derivatives 1 b1, 2, as representative examples of platina[6]helicenes that share a common platinum center, have been prepared. A diastereo- and enantioselective synthesis, which combines CH activation and dynamic isomerization from heterochiral structure 1 b2 into homochiral structure 1 b1, is also described. Overall, this isomerization process results in the transfer of chiral information from one helicene moiety to the other one. The chiroptical properties of homochiral ( P)- and ( M)- 1 b1 were greatly modified upon oxidation into their corresponding ( P)- and ( M)-diiodo-PtIV complexes ( 5). The changes were also analyzed by performing theoretical calculations. CH activation in the synthesis of organometallic helicenes is further demonstrated by the preparation of cis-bis-cycloplatinated-[8]helicene 1 c. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A large number of current chemotherapeutic agents prevent the growth of tumors by inhibiting DNA synthesis of cancer cells. It has been found recently that many planar polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) derivatives, previously known as carcinogenic, display anticancer activity through DNA cross‐linking. However, the practical use of these PAHs is substantially limited by their low therapeutic efficiency and selectivity toward most tumors. Herein, the anticancer property of a nonplanar PAH named [4]helicenium, which exhibits highly selective cytotoxicity toward liver, lung cancer, and leukemia cells compared with normal cells, is reported. Moreover, [4]helicenium effectively inhibits tumor growth in liver cancer‐bearing mice and shows little side effects in normal mice. RNA sequencing and confirmatory results demonstrate that [4]helicenium induces more DNA damage in tumor cells than in normal cells, resulting in tumor cell cycle arrest and apoptosis increment. This study reveals an unexpected role and molecular mechanism for PAHs in selectively killing tumor cells and provides an effective strategy for precision cancer therapies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chiral recognition among helical molecules is of essential importance in many chemical and biochemical processes. The complexity necessitates investigating manageable model systems for unveiling the fundamental principles of chiral recognition at the molecular level. Here, we reported chiral recognition in the self-assembly of enantiopure and racemic hexahelicene on a Au(111) surface. Combing scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurements, the asymmetric heterochiral trimers were observed as a new type of building block in racemic helicene self-assembly on Au(111). The intermolecular recognition of the heterochiral trimer was investigated upon manual separation so that the absolute configuration of each helicene molecule was unambiguously determined one by one, thus confirming that the trimer was "2+1" in handedness. These heterochiral trimers showed strong stability upon different coverages, which was also supported by theoretical calculations. Our results provide valuable insights for understanding the intermolecular recognition of helical molecules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]