Cyclacene · Template-Directed Synthesis of [9]CPP and [20]Cyclacene

Cyclic conjugated systems composed of benzene rings have attracted the interest of many chemists because of their novel structures and application value in nanotechnology, electronics, and host-guest chemistry. What attracted chemists is that they are the smallest repeating units of different types of carbon nanotubes. Their properties are of particular interest and they raise hope in the field of controllable growth of carbon nanotubes with uniform chirality. Carbon nanobelts and rings are notable not only for their structural similarity to carbon nanotubes but also for their significant value in supramolecular chemistry, molecular machines, and the fundamental understanding of -conjugation. Chemists have extensively studied the host-guest interactions between various carbon nanobelts/rings and different curved -systems. In addition, carbon nanobelts/rings have been investigated for their potential applications in organic semiconductors, optoelectronic devices. organic batteries, polarized luminescence, and guest recognition. However, due to the difficulties in the synthesis of carbon nanobelts/rings, their exploration in the field of functional materials for electronics, photonics, and photovoltaics so far remained limited. In this proposal, I suggest a new method for the synthesis of [9]CPP and [20]cyclacene using a templating approach for the synthesis of shape-persistent macrocycles molecules with large strain energy. The template molecule can organize the reactants and provide effective guidance to promote the formation of a specific product. Meanwhile, the substituted [20]cyclacene could also be synthesized by simply changing the reactants, thus expanding its application in the field of supramolecular chemistry and functional materials.