A Twisty "Hairpin Furan"

The thermal reaction of a cyclopentadienone with a dimethoxybinaphthoquinone gives, in a single step, a molecular ribbon composed of two twisted aromatic systems fused to a heteropentahelicene: a new class of chiral molecules, the "hairpin furans". For a brief communication describing the synthesis and structure of such molecules, see Geng, X., J. P. Donahue, J. T. Mague, and R. A. Pascal, Jr., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2015, 54, 13957-13960.