Donor-substituted peralkynylated "radiaannulenes": novel all-carbon macrocycles with an intense intramolecular charge-transfer

A novel class of planar, highly conjugated all-carbon macrocycles, which we christened "radiaannulenes", have been prepared based on acetylenic scaffolding using tetraethynylethene (TEE) building blocks; these structures are powerful electron acceptors and, upon peripheral substitution with electron-donating N,N-dialkylanilino groups, display intense intramolecular chargetransfer.