Chemists prepare ‘twistacenes’ with torsion angles of up to 170º
Twisting acenes by introducing sterically crowded groups has produced a family of molecules dubbed twistacenes. For a long time, these molecules remained practically unexplored, mostly because their synthesis is extremely challenging. Now, a team of chemists report the synthesis of decatwistacene, which is the longest of its kind.1 The molecule also exhibits a record torsion angle of 170°, surpassing the 144° of highly twisted pentacene.2