Our interest in radical additions to aromatic and heteroaromatic ring systems, 10., , , , , , , , and prompted us to explore an alternative entry to helicenes based on a tandem radical cyclisation strategy (Scheme 1). Having shown that 6-endo/exo-trig cyclisations of aryl radicals to arenes provide a high yielding route to phenanthrenes, 11 and that related cyclisations to phenanthrenes can give helicenes, 12 it seemed likely that the two processes could be run in parallel. In ...
