Bowl-shaped conjugated polycycles

The conjugated polycycles show excellent optical and electrical properties that are suitable for application in various organic electronics. While most of attentions have been paid to polycycles having planar pi-conjugated system, the curved polycycles seem amazing due to their unique physical and chemical features. The non-planar conjugated polycycles have been created with the geometries of bracelet, saddle, bowl, Mobius band, helicenes, etc. Among them, the bowl-shaped one is of growing interest owing to the multidiscipline applications such as synthetic intermediates for end-cap of carbon nanotube, coordination with metal ions, encapsulation of fullerenes, and fabrication of electronic devices. In this paper, we summarize the recent advances on the chemistry of the bowl-shaped conjugated polycycles, particularly on their synthesis and the further chemical modifications toward organic functional materials. (C) 2016 Chinese Chemical Society and Institute of Materia-Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.