Syntheses and Crystal Structures of Fused Thiophenes: [7]Helicene and Double Helicene, a D2-Symmetric Dimer of 3,3′-Bis(dithieno[2,3-b:3′,2′-d]thiophene)

The efficient synthesis of (TMS)(2)-[7]helicene (rac-3) and double helicene, a D-2-symmetric dimer of 3,3'-bis(dithieno-[2,3-b:3',2'-d]thiophene) (rac-4) was developed. The crystal structures of 3 and 4 show both strong intermolecular pi-pi interactions and S center dot center dot center dot S interactions. UV/vis spectra reveal that both 3 and 4 show significant pi-electron delocalization.