'Clean Reaction' Strategy to Approach a Stable, Green Heptatwistacene Containing a Single Terminal Pyrene Unit

Let's twist again: A “clean reaction” strategy based on thermally eliminating lactam bridges from a soluble acene precursor through a retro-Diels–Alder reaction gives a new, stable, green heptatwistacene (see structure). The molecule has a twist angle of 23.49°, is very stable even in air, and has an optical band gap of 1.82 eV.