Chiral Nanographenes, Helicenes, and Frustrated Lewis Pairs
This community designs and synthesizes complex, non-planar carbon frameworks—specifically graphene nanoribbons, helicenes, and boron-doped polycyclic aromatics—to create materials with specific chiroptical and electronic properties.
The work centers on the bottom-up synthesis of graphene nanoribbons and the construction of helical molecular carbons, often incorporating boron and nitrogen atoms to tune electronic behavior. Recurring themes include the use of frustrated Lewis pairs as catalytic systems for enantioselective synthesis, and the engineering of circularly polarized luminescence in rigid, chiral structures. Researchers frequently employ atomic force microscopy to characterize surface synthesis and structural integrity, while investigating how donor-acceptor architectures and nitrogen doping influence photophysical properties. The focus is on controlling molecular geometry to achieve specific spin-selective transport, narrowband emission, and stable chiroptical responses in organic semiconductors and nanoelectronic components.
The largest share of the community's output is found in boron research, accounting for 80.0% of all boron research tracked, and 1,238 papers here. Carbon research also features prominently, representing 10.8% of carbon research with 1,081 papers.
The community comprises 5,871 papers, publishing most frequently in Angewandte Chemie International Edition, the Journal of the American Chemical Society, and Angewandte Chemie.
Recent work continues to focus on the synthesis of chiral nanographenes for nanoelectronics and the development of boron-containing helicenes with tunable luminescence. Newer studies also explore antiaromatic nanographenes and the use of B-N Lewis pair functionalized molecules for live cell imaging and electrochemiluminescence.