Effect of Conjugation Mode on Intramolecular Charge Transfer in Fabricating Acid-Responsive Fluorophores

Solid-state acid-responsive materials are promising for the tunability of their intrinsic properties. However, the relationship between molecular structure and emission shift as a response to acid stimuli has not been systematically studied. Herein, we report the effect of protonation and subsequent intramolecular hydrogen bonding on the photophysical properties of compounds (MPP-s, MPP-d, and MPP-d-CN) with different conjugation modes between the electron-donating dimethoxyl phenyl and the electron-withdrawing benzothiazole ring. The results established that the stronger the intramolecular charge transfer feature of the compound, the smaller is the emission shift after acid stimuli. Our studies also indicated that the conjugation mode significantly affected the solid-state packing mode: MPP-s and MPP-d tended to form dimers, while MPP-d-CN exhibited the strongest aggregation-induced emission enhancement (AIEE). The exploration of structure-property relationship would provide experimental and theoretical guidance in designing acid-responsive molecular switches and developing high-performance AIEE-active luminogens.

Fluorophobic Effect Promoting Lamellar Self-Assembly of Donor Acceptor Dyes

To combine liquid crystalline and linear optical properties in the same molecule, the fluorophobic effect was probed for the first time in donor acceptor dyes. Thus, a series of mono-, bi-, and tricyclic donor acceptor dyes with 1H,1H-perfluorinated alkyl chains of different lengths as donor units and nitrile, malononitrile or barbiturate as acceptor units was synthesized in 5 steps and 1.4-6.6 % overall yield. UV/Vis and fluorescence spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry and DFT calculations revealed that absorption and emission maxima, Stokes shifts and LUMO energies were mainly governed by the chromophore size and acceptor strengths. The perfluorinated chain was electronically almost decoupled from the remaining chromophore and induced only slight changes of the absorption maxima as compared to the alkyl substituted counterparts. However, in contrast to the non-mesomorphic alkyl donor-substituted derivatives, the perfluorinated donors resulted in self-assembly into partially interdigitated SmA bilayers according to differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), polarizing optical microscopy (POM), X-ray diffraction (WAXS, SAXS) studies and electron density profile calculations.

Conformational Effects of Bay Substituents on Optical, Electrochemical and Dynamic Properties of Perylene Bisimides: Macrocyclic Derivatives as Effective Probes

A series of diagonally and laterally bridged regioisomeric macrocycles based on 1,6,7,12-tetraaryloxy-substituted perylene bisimides (APBIs) have been synthesized and characterized. The different orientations of the aryloxy residues, that is, horizontal or perpendicular to the perylene core, in the regioisomeric macrocycles have been elucidated by NMR spectroscopy, and the dynamic properties of the laterally bridged regioisomers have been investigated by temperature-dependent NMR measurements. The influence of the different orientations of the aryloxy substituents on the electrochemical properties of APBIs is demonstrated by cyclic voltammetry, which reveals that a perpendicular orientation of the aryloxy residues relative to the perylene core leads to a substantial decrease of the LUMO energy level of the perylene bisimide electrophore. The optical properties of the regioisomeric macrocycles have been determined by UV/Vis and fluorescence spectroscopy. It has been shown that the diagonally bridged macrocycles exhibit optical properties that differ significantly from those of an open-chain reference compound, whereas the optical properties of the laterally bridged isomers resemble those of the reference system. This demonstrates that unrestricted aryloxy substituents prefer the lateral conformation in solution. Solvent-dependent fluorescent properties have been exemplified for one diagonally bridged derivative, suggesting a photoinduced electron transfer process as fluorescence quenching mechanism for APBIs. From these investigations, guidelines toward highly fluorescent APBI dyes in polar media could be derived.

Tetraazaperopyrenes: A New Class of Multifunctional Chromophores

Tetraazaperopyrene and a range of derivatives have been synthesised and their photophysical and redox-chemical properties studied. The parent compound, 1,3,8,10-tetraazaperopyrene (1), was prepared by treating 4,9-diamino-3,10-perylenequinone diimine with triethyl orthoformate, whereas the 2,9-disubstituted derivatives of 1 were obtained after treatment with the corresponding carboxylic acid chloride or anhydride (2 mol equiv). The 1,3,8,10-tetraazaperopyrene core structure was established by X-ray diffraction of 2,9-bis(2-bromophenyl)-1,3,8,10-tetraazaperopyrene (6). The UV-visible absorption spectra of the compounds have a characteristic visible pi(*)<--pi absorption band at 440 nm (log epsilon(max)=4.80) with a strong vibrational progression (Delta nu approximately 1450 cm(-1)). Diprotonation of the nitrogen atoms induces a bathochromic shift of this band from 430-440 to 470-480 nm and all four nitrogen atoms are protonated when pure H(2)SO(4) is used as the solvent. The first and second as well as the third and fourth protonations occur concomitantly, which implies that they have very similar pK(a) values and, consequently, similar proton affinities. A theoretical study of the proton affinities in the gas phase and in solution attributes this behaviour to the effects of polar solvents, which dampen the charge of a protonated site at the other end of the molecule and thus effectively decouple the two opposite pyrimidine units in the polycondensed aromatic compound. The photophysical data were modelled in a time-dependent DFT study of 1, 1H(2)(2+) and 1H(4)(4+) in both the gas phase and in a polar solvent. All the dyes show weak fluorescence in organic solvents, however, their protonated conjugate acids show dramatically increased fluorescence intensity. All of the dyes undergo two electrochemically reversible one-electron reductions with cyclovoltammetric half-wave potentials at E(red1) approximately -0.9 V and E(red2) approximately -1.3 V (vs. SCE), which are associated with characteristic spectral changes.

Self-Assembled Organic Nanostructures: Effect of Substituents on the Morphology

Three perylene-3,4;9,10-tetracarboxydiimide (PTCDI) compounds with two dodecyloxy or thiododecyl chains attached at the bay positions of the perylene ring, PTCDIs 1-3, were fabricated into nanoassemblies by a solution injection method. The morphologies of these self-assembled nanostructures were determined by transmission electronic microscopy (TEM), scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). PTCDI compound 1, with two dodecyloxy groups, forms long, flexible nanowires with an aspect ratio of over 200, while analogue 3, with two thiododecyl groups, self-assembles into spherical particles. In line with these results, PTCDI 2, with one dodecyloxy group and one thiododecyl group, forms nanorods with an aspect ratio of around 20. Electronic absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy results reveal the formation of H-aggregates in the nanostructures of these PTCDI compounds owing to the pi-pi interaction between the substituted perylene molecules and also suggest a decreasing pi-pi interaction in the order 1>2>3, which corresponds well with the morphology of the corresponding nanoassemblies. On the basis of DFT calculations, the effect of different substituents at the bay positions of the perylene ring on the pi-pi interaction between substituted perylene molecules and the morphology of self-assembled nanostructures is rationalized by the differing degree of twisting of the conjugated perylene system caused by the different substituents and the different bending of the alkoxy and thioalkyl groups with respect to the plane of the naphthalene.

Functional Liquid-Crystalline Assemblies: Self-Organized Soft Materials

In the 21st century, soft materials will become more important as functional materials because of their dynamic nature. Although soft materials are not as highly durable as hard materials, such as metals, ceramics, and engineering plastics, they can respond well to stimuli and the environment. The introduction of order into soft materials induces new dynamic functions. Liquid crystals are ordered soft materials consisting of self-organized molecules and can potentially be used as new functional materials for electron, ion, or molecular transporting, sensory, catalytic, optical, and bio-active materials. For this functionalization, unconventional materials design is required. Herein, we describe new approaches to the functionalization of liquid crystals and show how the design of liquid crystals formed by supramolecular assembly and nano-segregation leads to the formation of a variety of new self-organized functional materials.

Indene and Pseudoazulene Discotic Liquid Crystals: A Synthetic and Structural Study

Several new liquid-crystalline indene and pseudoazulene systems are reported. These molecules give rise to either columnar hexagonal mesophases and/or columnar plastic phases. The unique nature of these compounds stems from their non-classical discotic structure. Although the molecules have rigid aromatic cores, they lack terminal tails and instead the polarizable atoms (S, halogens) or polar groups (CN, CO) act as unusual soft parts. On the basis of many structurally related materials, we conclude that for this type of compound molecular stacking in the solid state is a prerequisite for the appearance of a columnar mesophase, although other intermolecular interactions within the layers are also important in establishing liquid-crystalline order. The behavior reported for these mesomorphic molecules opens up new possibilities in the search for related molecular interactions that might be useful for the construction of supramolecular architectures with particular properties.