Exploration of 9-bromo[7]helicene reactivity mainly in Pd-catalyzed reactions is reported. Palladium catalyzed carbon-carbon and carbon-heteroatom coupling reactions provide a large portfolio of racemic helicenes bearing different functional groups in good to excellent yields. Many of the reactions were performed in the microwave reactor keeping reaction time to a minimum compared with conventional synthetic methods. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.