Janus faced fluorocyclohexanes for supramolecular assembly: synthesis and solid state structures of equatorial mono-, di- and tri alkylated cyclohexanes and with tri-axial C-F bonds to impart polarity

Concise and general synthesis protocols are reported to generate all-syn mono-, di- and tri-alkylated cyclohexanes where a single fluorine is located on the remaining carbons of the ring. The alkyl groups are positioned to lie equatorially and to have triaxial C-F bonds imparting polarity to these ring systems. Intermolecular electrostatic interactions in the solid-state structure of the trialkylated systems are explored and the resultant supramolecular order opens up prospects for design in soft materials.

Propeller-Like All-Fused Perylene Diimide Based Electron Acceptors With Chalcogen Linkage for Efficient Polymer Solar Cells

Perylene diimide (PDI) is a widely explored chromophore for constructing non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs) for polymer solar cells (PSCs). The advantage of using PDI derivatives lies in the readily availability of PDI unit which largely reduces the synthesis cost and improves material stability. Indeed, the recent development of high performance NFAs shed light on the feasibility of the commercialization, but the complex synthesis and poor stability of the top performing NFAs cast a shadow on this bright future. Our previous work has demonstrated a propeller-like structure with three PDIs lined to a benzene center core with a C-C bond which prevented the PDIs to aggregate into undesired large crystals. In this work, we designed and synthesized three new propeller-like PDI derivatives with extra chalcogen linkages between the PDIs and the center core to form all-fused rigid structures. These molecules showed more suitable absorption range than that of their unfused counterparts when blend with donor polymer PTB7-Th. Comparing between the molecules with extra oxygen, sulfur or selenium linkages, the sulfur-based BTT-PDI outperformed the others due to its higher photon absorption and charge transport abilities. This work demonstrated the great potential of PDI derivatives for PSC applications and explored the influences of linkage type on the fused PDI derivatives, which provided a useful tuning knob for molecular design of PDI-based NFAs in the future.

One-pot synthesis of benzotripyrrole derivatives from 1H-pyrroles

Benzotripyrroles were synthesized in one step from functionalized pyrroles and computational studies reveal the reactivity of the pyrroles and stability of the benzotripyrroles.

Furo[2,3- g]thieno[2,3- e]indole: Application of an Ynamide-Based Benzannulation Strategy to the Synthesis of a Tetracyclic Heteroaromatic Compound

The first synthesis of the tetracyclic aromatic compound furo[2,3- g]thieno[2,3- e]indole ("FTI") is described. The synthetic strategy features a photochemical benzannulation based on the reaction of an α-diazo ketone and ynamide which assembles a benzothiophene equipped with substituents that enable subsequent cyclizations to generate the nitrogen and oxygen heterocyclic rings.

Synthesis of unsymmetrical benzotrichalcogenophenes by N-heterocyclic carbene-palladium-catalyzed intramolecular direct C3-arylation of chalcogenophenes

A series of new unsymmetrical benzotrichalcogenophenes (BTCs) were synthesized by the Pd-N-heterocyclic carbene catalyzed intramolecular C3-arylation of furan, thiophene, selenophene and tellurophene units. This is the first time that a C3-direct arylation of selenophene and tellurophene moieties has ever been demonstrated.

Design and Functions of Semiconducting Fused Polycyclic Furans for Optoelectronic Applications

The fused polycyclic furan structure is a ubiquitous motif in naturally occurring organic compounds. However, they had been rarely seen in the literature of organic electronic research until very recently, probably because of the lack of stability of simple furans under conditions that the compounds experience in the active layer of the device. Nonetheless, from the viewpoint of molecular structure, furans look to have potential merits as organic semiconductors such as thiophenes, which are more popular in the organic electronic area. For example, the small atomic radius and large electronegativity of oxygen will increase intermolecular molecular orbital (MO) overlap and hence facilitate charge transporting ability in the solid state. In this Account, we describe the molecular design and optoelectronic applications of fused polycyclic furans, such as benzodifurans (BDFs), naphthodifurans (NDFs), and anthradifurans (ADFs). The molecular design that was exploited in this study crucially depends on the synthetic flexibility of a "modular" synthetic strategy that we purposely developed and reviewed in a separate report. Our synthetic strategy comprises two steps carried out in situ: cyclization of an o-alkynylphenol into a zincio benzofuran and its electrophilic Negishi-type trapping to obtain a range of multisubstituted fused furan compounds. These compounds are found to possess electronic structures resembling those of fused polyaromatic hydrocarbons, such as acenes or phenacenes, rather than oxygen-bridged phenylenevinylene, along with unique characteristics: a wide HOMO-LUMO gap originating from the weak aromaticity of the furan rings, an intense photoluminescent character, and mechanofluorochromism. Semiconducting properties of fused furans are also excellent among organic materials: some BDF derivatives show high hole mobility on the order of 10^-3 cm²/(V s) in the amorphous state using time-of-flight (TOF) technique. The p-type BDFs exhibit high performance as hole-transporting material in heterojunction organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), while carbazole-substituted BDFs (CZBDFs) are ambipolar with well-balanced high carrier mobility for both hole and electron and serve as host materials for full-color electroluminescence in both hetero- and homojunction architectures. More π-expanded NDFs showed good crystallinity and are effective active materials for organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) with a high hole mobility of up to 3.6 cm²/(V s) using a solution process. These studies have illustrated the high potential of fused polycyclic furans in organic electronics research, which thus far have attracted much less attention than their thiophene congeners.

Benzotrifuran (BTFuran): a building block for π-conjugated systems

Reported here is the first synthesis, X-ray crystal structure, and derivatization of C_3h-symmetric benzotrifuran (BTFuran), oxygen analog of the widely exploited benzotrithiophene.

FeCl3/ZnI2-Catalyzed regioselective synthesis of angularly fused furans

The FeCl₃/ZnI₂-catalyzed synthesis of angularly fused furans by intermolecular coupling between enols and alkynes has been developed in ambient air.

Total Synthesis of (+)-Vicenin-2

The bis-C-glucosyl flavonoid vicenin-2 (1) has been synthesized by exploiting bis-C-glycosylation of 1,3,5-trifluorobenzene and aromatic nucleophilic substitution to transform fluorine atoms to oxygen functions in excellent yield.

Diversified Synthesis of Furans by Coupling between Enols/1,3-Dicarbonyl Compounds and Nitroolefins: Direct Access to Dioxa[5]helicenes

A versatile method for the diversified synthesis of furans and arenofurans has been developed that proceeds through K2CO3-promoted cyclization between enols/1,3-dicarbonyl compounds and nitroolefins at reflux in EtOH. This facile method has been successfully employed in the synthesis of benzotrifuran derivatives, which are useful hole-transporting materials. This procedure also provides direct access to dioxa[5]helicenes. This reaction offers a broad substrate scope, uses an inexpensive base and environmentally benign solvent, and is operationally simple.

Formation of Multicomponent Star Structures at the Liquid/Solid Interface

To demonstrate key roles of multiple interactions between multiple components and multiple phases in the formation of an uncommon self-assembling pattern, we present here the construction of a porous hexagonal star (h-star) structure using a trigonal molecular building block at the liquid/solid interface. For this purpose, self-assembly of hexaalkoxy-substituted dehydrobenzo[12]annulene derivatives DBA-OCns was investigated at the tetradecane/graphite interface by means of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Monolayer structures were significantly influenced by coadsorbed tetradecane molecules depending on the alkyl chains length (C13-C16) of DBA-OCn. However, none of DBA-OCn molecules formed the expected trigonal complexes, indicating that an additional driving force is necessary for the formation of the trigonal complex and its assembly into the h-star structure. As a first approach, we employed the "guest induced structural change" for the formation of the h-star structure. In the presence of two guest molecules, nonsubstituted DBA and hexakis(phenylethynyl)benzene which fit the respective pores, an h-star structure was formed by DBA-OC15 at the tetradecane/graphite interface. Moreover, a tetradecane molecule was coadsorbed between a pair of alkyl chains of DBA-OC15, thereby blocking the interdigitation of the alkyl chain pairs. Therefore, the h-star structure results from the self-assembly of the four molecular components including the solvent molecule. The second approach is based on aggregation of perfluoroalkyl chains via fluorophilicity of DBA-F, in which the perfluoroalkyl groups are substituted at the end of three alkyl chains of DBA-OCn via p-phenylene linkers. A trigonal complex consisting of DBA-F and three tetradecane molecules formed an h-star structure, in which the perfluoroalkyl groups that orient into the alkane solution phase aggregated at the hexagonal pore via fluorophilicity. The present result provides useful insight into the design and control of complex molecular self-assembly at the liquid/solid interface.

Synthesis of indoles, benzofurans, and related heterocycles via an acetylene-activated SNAr/intramolecular cyclization cascade sequence in water or DMSO

The synthesis of 2-substituted indoles and benzofurans was achieved by nucleophilic aromatic substitution, followed by subsequent 5-endo-dig cyclization between the nucleophile and an ortho acetylene.

Copper-promoted hydration and annulation of 2-fluorophenylacetylene derivatives: from alkynes to benzo[b]furans and benzo[b]thiophenes

An efficient copper-promoted hydration reaction and its application in the synthesis of benzo[b]furan and benzo[b]thiophene derivatives is presented starting from readily available 2-fluorophenylacetylene derivatives. The key annulation step involves the hydration of the C-F bond of 2-fluorophenylacetylene derivatives followed by an intramolecular annulation to afford benzo[b]furan and benzo[b]thiophene derivatives. Moreover, structurally important 2,2'-bisbenzofuran scaffolds are provided in good yields.