B,N-Embedded Double Hetero[7]helicenes with Strong Chiroptical Responses in the Visible Light Region

Abstract

The development of helicene molecules with significant chiroptical responses covering a broad range of the visible spectrum is highly desirable for chiral optoelectronic applications; however, their absorption dissymmetry factors (<i>g</i>_abs) have been mostly lower than 0.01. In this work, we report unprecedented B,N-embedded double hetero[7]helicenes with nonbonded B and N atoms, which exhibit excellent chiroptical properties, such as strong chiroptical activities from 300 to 700 nm, record high <i>g</i>_abs up to 0.033 in the visible spectral range, and tunable circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) from red to near-infrared regions (600-800 nm) with high photoluminescence quantum yields (PLQYs) up to 100%. As revealed by theoretical analyses, the high <i>g</i>_abs values are related to the separate molecular orbital distributions owing to the incorporation of nonbonded B and N atoms. The new type of B,N-embedded double heterohelicenes opens up an appealing avenue to the future exploitation of high-performance chiroptical materials.