Year: 2026
Type: review
Abstract: ) and their potential as multifunctional open-shell building blocks. Nonetheless, far from becoming less appealing after such extensive study, these propeller-shaped radicals are nowadays gaining momentum thanks to their intrinsic chirality, which arises from the clockwise or counterclockwise torsion of their aryl rings. Indeed, increasing attention is being devoted to the implications of combining this feature with other properties, such as magnetism, enabling applications such as EPR probes, spin-dependent electronic transport through the CISS effect, and quantum technologies. From an optical perspective, their performance as circularly polarized light emitters has emerged as one of the most promising research directions. In this review, we present the advances made in understanding and exploiting the handedness of trityl-based radicals, from tetrathiatriarylmethyl radicals to halogen-shielded derivatives. We will cover the evolution from intrinsic propeller chirality to more complex diastereomeric systems resulting from their functionalization with additional chiral centers, axes, and planes, as well as the incorporation of additional propeller units into multipropeller architectures or their involvement in chiral supramolecular assemblies. Finally, we will discuss how these advances are shaping emerging applications.
Source: Chemical Science
DOI: 10.1039/d6sc06418c
Language: English
Subfield: Organic Chemistry
Field: Chemistry
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
Funders: Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, European Commission, Generalitat de Catalunya, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red en Bioingeniería, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina, Horizon 2020 Framework Programme, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, European Regional Development Fund, Agencia Estatal de Investigación
Awards: G103507813, G1105844351, G1544644610, G1936110492, G2019505627, G2064873908, G2198898644, G2462415295, G2594783571, G2792841467, G3005324705, G3331922608, G3345895242, G3477743816, G3546882995, G3918518728, G410571670, G4212894969, G451917667, G491712853, G5195188938, G5355868334, G5539308778, G5635532810, G5967599077, Multifunctional nanocarriers for nonlinear microscopy: new tools for biology and medicine, G6057404856, G6547589217, G7169023097, G7805626310, G7863371703, G8497050386, G8800515849
OpenAlex ID: W7221706211