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Abstract Solid‐state packing plays a defining role in the properties of a molecular organic material, but it is difficult to elucidate in the absence of single crystals that are suitable for X‐ray diffraction. Herein, we demonstrate the coupling of divergent synthesis with microcrystal electron diffraction (MicroED) for rapid assessment of solid‐state packing motifs, using a class of chiral nanocarbons—expanded helicenes—as a proof of concept. Two highly selective oxidative dearomatizations of a readily accessible helicene provided a divergent route to four electron‐deficient analogues containing quinone or quinoxaline units. Crystallization efforts consistently yielded microcrystals that were unsuitable for single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction, but ideal for MicroED. This technique facilitated the elucidation of solid‐state structures of all five compounds with <1.1 Å resolution. The otherwise‐inaccessible data revealed a range of notable packing behaviors, including four different space groups, homochirality in a crystal for a helicene with an extremely low enantiomerization barrier, and nanometer scale cavities. 

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are attractive synthetic building blocks for more complex conjugated nanocarbons, but their use for this purpose requires appreciable quantities of a PAH with reactive functional groups. Despite tremendous recent advances, most synthetic methods cannot satisfy these demands. Here we present a general and scalable [2 + 2 + n ] ( n = 1 or 2) cycloaddition strategy to access PAHs that are decorated with synthetically versatile alkynyl groups and its application to seven structurally diverse PAH ring systems (thirteen new alkynylated PAHs in total). The critical discovery is the site-selectivity of an Ir-catalyzed [2 + 2 + 2] cycloaddition, which preferentially cyclizes tethered diyne units with preservation of other (peripheral) alkynyl groups . The potential for generalization of the site-selectivity to other [2 + 2 + n ] reactions is demonstrated by identification of a Cp 2 Zr-mediated [2 + 2 + 1]/metallacycle transfer sequence for synthesis of an alkynylated, selenophene-annulated PAH. The new PAHs are excellent synthons for macrocyclic conjugated nanocarbons. As a proof of concept, four were subjected to alkyne metathesis catalysis to afford large, PAH-containing arylene ethylene macrocycles, which possess a range of cavity sizes reaching well into the nanometer regime. Notably, these high-yielding macrocyclizations establish that synthetically convenient pentynyl groups can be effective for metathesis since the 4-octyne byproduct is sequestered by 5 Å MS. Most importantly, this work is a demonstration of how site-selective reactions can be harnessed to rapidly build up structural complexity in a practical, scalable fashion.