Infinitene: A Helically Twisted Figure-Eight [12]Circulene Topoisomer

New forms of molecular nanocarbon particularly looped polyarenes adopting various topologies contribute to the fundamental science and practical applications. Here we report the synthesis of an infinity-shaped polyarene, infinitene (1) (cyclo[c.c.c.c.c.c.e.e.e.e.e.e]dodecakisbenzene), comprising consecutively fused 12-benzene rings forming an enclosed loop with a strain energy of 60.2 kcal·mol^-1. Infinitene (1) represents a topoisomer of still-hypothetical [12]circulene, and its scaffold can be formally visualized as the outcome of the "stitching" of two homochiral [6]helicene subunits by both their ends. The synthetic strategy encompasses transformation of a rationally designed dithiacyclophane to cyclophadiene through the Stevens rearrangement and pyrolysis of the corresponding S,S'-bis(oxide) followed by the photocyclization. The structure of 1 is a unique hybrid of helicene and circulene with a molecular formula of C₄₈H₂₄, which can be regarded as an isomer for kekulene, [6,6]carbon nanobelt ([6,6]CNB), and [12]cyclacene. Infinitene (1) is a bench-stable yellow solid with green fluorescence and soluble to common organic solvents. Its figure-eight molecular structure was unambiguously confirmed by X-ray crystallography. The scaffold of 1 is significantly compressed as manifested by a remarkably shortened distance (3.152-3.192 Å) between the centroids of two π-π stacked central benzene rings and the closest C···C distance of 2.920 Å. Fundamental photophysical properties of 1 were thoroughly elucidated by UV-vis absorption and fluorescence spectroscopic studies and density functional theory calculations. Its configurational stability enabled separation of the corresponding enantiomers (P,P) and (M,M) by a chiral HPLC. Circular dichroism (CD) and circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) measurements revealed that 1 has moderate |g_CD| and |g_CPL| values.