Circularly Polarized Luminescence of [6]Helicenes through Excited- State Intramolecular Proton Transfer

This project received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant Agreements No. 716139 and No. 677023), the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF, PP00P2_170534, PP00P2_198900), Project PGC2018-101181-B-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033 FEDER "Una manera de hacer Europa", grant A-FQM-230-UGR20 funded by FEDER/Junta de Andalucia-Consejeria de Transformacion Economica, Industria, Conocimiento y Universidades and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD, postdoc fellowship to D. G.). Open access funding provided by the University of Zurich.We present the concept of combining circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) and excited-state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) features into a single molecule as a strategy to generate high-performance ESIPT-based CPL materials. For this purpose, a [6]helicene bearing two ESIPT structural units was synthesized using a double Suzuki-Miyaura reaction and a double C(sp(2))-H hydroxylation approach. The photophysical properties of the doubly hydroxylated [6]helicene were studied in parallel with a non-hydroxylated [6]helicene control compound, revealing that the presence of a chiral [6]helicene unit results in a strong CPL response and the presence of the ESIPT units in a considerable red shift. The red-shifted emission along with the outstanding g(lum) (approximate to 10(-2)) and a large Stokes shift makes the doubly hydroxylated [6]helicene a promising candidate for use in optoelectronics.European Research Council (ERC) 716139 677023Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) PP00P2_170534 PP00P2_198900Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst (DAAD)University of ZurichMCIN/AEI FEDER "Una manera de hacer Europa" PGC2018-101181-B-I00FEDER/Junta de Andalucia-Consejeria de Transformacion Economica, Industria, Conocimiento y Universidades A-FQM-230-UGR2