Introduction to Helicene Chemistry

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Abstract

In this chapter, a brief introduction to helical structure and helicene is first given followed by the nomenclature. The historical development is discussed in detail, and some landmarks such as the first reported helicene, the demonstration of helical structure by X-ray analysis, the first large-scale synthesis by Diels-Alder addition, and the contributions of leading research groups at different times are highlighted. This book is aimed to become a primer for beginners who want to enter this area and also a useful manual for researchers and graduate students. Literatures from 2012 to early 2016 are covered and important discoveries before 2012 are emphasized as well. At last, helicene-related books or review articles published before 2016 are summarized. If readers are interested in a specific topic, more details could be obtained from them.

Keywords

Helicene Helicene chemistry Historical overview Nomenclature Objectives and literature coverage 
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Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2017

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, CAS Key Laboratory of Molecular Recognition and Function, Institute of ChemistryChinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina

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