Synthesis, Spectroscopic and Nonlinear Optical Properties of Multiple [60]Fullerene-Oligo(p-phenylene ethynylene) Hybrids

Electronic band structure and anisotropic optical properties of bulk and monolayer fullerene networks

We theoretically investigate the local electron density, electronic band structure, density of state, dielectric function, and optical absorption of the bulk and monolayer C₆₀ network structures, based on the latest experimental synthesis [Nature, 2022, 606, 507]. The results show that the ground state electrons are concentrated on the bridge bonds between clusters, the bulk and monolayer C₆₀ network structures have strong absorption peaks in the visible and near infrared regions, and the monolayer quasi-tetragonal phase C₆₀ network structure shows strong polarization dependence. Our results not only provide insights into the physical mechanism of optical absorption of the monolayer C₆₀ network structure, but also reveal potential applications of the C₆₀ network structure in photoelectric devices.

Computational investigation on the geometry and electronic structures and absorption spectra of metal-porphyrin-oligo- phenyleneethynylenes-[60] fullerene triads

In this work, we focus our attention on the influence of 2nd-row transition metals on the structural geometries, electronic structures, and absorption characteristics of porphyrin linked with the C₆₀ fullerene with oligo-p-phenyleneethynylenes (MP-C₆₀-oligo-PPEs) compounds. The DFT/B3PW91-D3 and CAM-B3LYP-D3/6-31G (d) calculations revealed that various metals embedded within the porphyrin moiety give different bridge conformations and different HOMO-LUMO energy levels. We calculate the UV-Vis spectra and absorption parameters using the time-dependent ZINDO/S approach. Our findings indicate that all the compounds have enhanced absorptions in the visible light range, and their molecular orbital energies adopt the condition of sensitizers. However, all of the complexes except down spin states exhibit considerably charge spatial separation. The results suggest that the ZnP-C₆₀-oligo-PPEs triad can meet the necessary conditions of the sensitizer of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) in comparison with other counterparts and could be an optimum triad compound for potential application in photovoltaic devices.

Photoinduced Intramolecular Electron Transfer in Phenylene Ethynylene Naphthalimide Oligomers

This paper reports a photophysical investigation of a series of phenylene ethynylene oligomers (OPE) that are end-substituted with a 1,8-naphthalene imide (NI) acceptor. The NI acceptor is attached to the terminus of the OPEs via an ethynylene (-C≡C-) unit that is linked at the 4-position of the NI unit. A series of three oligomers is investigated, OPE1-NI, OPE3-NI, and OPE5-NI, which contain 1, 3, and 5 phenylene ethynylene repeat units, respectively. The properties of the OPEn-NI series are compared to a corresponding set of unsubstituted OPEs, OPE3 and OPE5, which contain 3 and 5 phenylene ethynylene repeats, respectively. The photophysics of all the compounds are interrogated using a variety of techniques including steady-state absorption, steady-state fluorescence, two-photon absorption, time-resolved fluorescence, and transient absorption spectroscopy on femtosecond-to-microsecond time scales. The effect of solvent polarity on the properties of the oligomers is examined. The results show that the NI-substituted oligomers feature a lowest charge transfer (CT) excited state, where the OPE segment acts as the donor and the NI moiety is the acceptor (OPEn^•+-NI^•-). The absorption spectra in one-photon and two-photon exhibit a clear manifold of absorption features that can be attributed to direct CT absorption. In moderately polar solvents, the emission is dominated by a broad, solvatochromic band that is due to radiative decay from the CT excited state. Ultrafast transient absorption provides evidence for initial population of a locally excited state (LE) which in moderately polar solvents rapidly (∼1 ps) evolves into the CT excited state. The structure, spectroscopy, and dynamics of the CT state are qualitatively similar for OPE3-NI and OPE5-NI, suggesting that delocalization in the OPE segment does not have much effect on the structure or energetics of the CT excited state.

Resonance-Enhanced Charge Delocalization in Carbazole-Oligoyne-Oxadiazole Conjugates

There are notably few literature reports of electron donor-acceptor oligoynes, even though they offer unique opportunities for studying charge transport through "all-carbon" molecular bridges. In this context, the current study focuses on a series of carbazole-(C≡C)_n-2,5-diphenyl-1,3,4-oxadiazoles (n = 1-4) as conjugated π-systems in general and explores their photophysical properties in particular. Contrary to the behavior of typical electron donor-acceptor systems, for these oligoynes, the rates of charge recombination after photoexcitation increase with increasing electron donor-acceptor distance. To elucidate this unusual performance, we conducted detailed photophysical and time-dependent density functional theory investigations. Significant delocalization of the molecular orbitals along the bridge indicates that the bridging states come into resonance with either the electron donor or acceptor, thereby accelerating the charge transfer. Moreover, the calculated bond lengths reveal a reduction in bond-length alternation upon photoexcitation, indicating significant cumulenic character of the bridge in the excited state. In short, strong vibronic coupling between the electron-donating N-arylcarbazoles and the electron-accepting 1,3,4-oxadiazoles accelerates the charge recombination as the oligoyne becomes longer.

Zirconocene-mediated selective synthesis of 1,4-bis(alkynyl)benzenes

A series of novel 1,4-bis(alkynyl)benzene derivatives were synthesized from trimethylsilyl-substituted alkynes by the mediation of zirconocene with excellent regioselectivity in high yields. The 3,6-bis(trimethylsilyl)-4,5-dialkylphthalic acid dimethyl esters were prepared by cycloaddition of 2,5-bis(trimethylsilyl)zirconacyclopentadienes to dimethyl acetylenedicarboxylate. After iodination with iodine monochloride, 3,6-diiodo-4,5-dialkylphthalic acid dimethyl esters reacted with terminal alkynes to prepare the corresponding 1,4-bis(alkynyl)benzene derivatives by Sonogashira coupling reactions. After removal of trimethylsilyl, 4,5-dibutyl-3,6-bis(ethynyl)phthalic acid dimethyl ester (compound 3) reacted with 4-iodobenzoic acid ethyl ester and 2-iodothiophene, respectively, to obtain the corresponding products 4a and 4c. Compound 3 can be extended to higher oligomers, which reacted with 1-bromo-4-iodobenzene and phenylacetylene in a stepwise manner under Sonogashira conditions to give the phenylene-ethynylene oligomer 5 in an isolated yield of 85%. The structures of the products were confirmed by 1H NMR spectroscopy, 13C NMR spectroscopy, and MS. The optical properties of the 1,4-bis(alkynyl)benzene derivatives were studied by UV-Vis spectroscopy and fluorescence spectra. The results indicated that some can be developed into potential photovoltaic materials.

Functionalization of pentacene-5,7,12,14-tetraone with geminal enediyne and 1,3-dithiole groups

Pentacene-5,7,12,14-tetraone was subjected to selective olefination and cross-coupling reactions to yield a new class of pentacene-based π-conjugated systems with intriguing structural, electronic, and redox properties.

Covalent grafting of silatranes to carbon interfaces

Covalent Si-C grafting of a silatrane cage to a carbon-based interface provides a truly conjugated benzyl-type system in which the 3 c-4 e orbital of the silatrane interacts with the macroscopic π-type substituent (graphite Csp2 network) through hyperconjugation. This process, studied by voltammetry, EIS, FTIR, SEM and DFT modeling, allows one to build carbon-based conducting interfaces with electronically conjugated molecular extensions. Non-conjugated covalent grafting of an alkyl silatrane moiety provides chemically stable functional interfaces that have good promise for electrochemically-driven applications, for example, electrochemical spin-writing.

Polar tagging in the synthesis of monodisperse oligo(p-phenyleneethynylene)s and an update on the synthesis of oligoPPEs

One important access to monodisperse (functionalized) oligoPPEs is based on the orthogonality of the alkyne protecting groups triisopropylsilyl and hydroxymethyl (HOM) and on the polar tagging with the hydroxymethyl moiety for an easy chromatographic separation of the products. This paper provides an update of this synthetic route. For the deprotection of HOM protected alkynes, γ-MnO₂ proved to be better than (highly) activated MnO₂. The use of HOM as an alkyne protecting group is accompanied by carbometalation as a side reaction in the alkynyl-aryl coupling. The extent of carbometalation can be distinctly reduced through substitution of HOM for 1-hydroxyethyl. The strategy of polar tagging is extended by embedding ether linkages within the solubilising side chains. With building blocks such as 1,4-diiodo-2,5-bis(6-methoxyhexyl) less steps are needed to assemble oligoPPEs with functional end groups and the isolation of pure compounds becomes simple. For the preparation of 1,4-dialkyl-2,5-diiodobenzene a better procedure is presented together with the finding that 1,4-dialkyl-2,3-diiodobenzene, a constitutional isomer of 1,4-dialkyl-2,5-diiodobenzene, is one of the byproducts.

Star-Shaped Conjugated Systems

The present review deals with the preparation and the properties of star-shaped conjugated compounds. Three, four or six conjugated arms are attached to cross-conjugated cores, which consist of single atoms (B, C⁺, N), benzene or azine rings or polycyclic ring systems, as for example triphenylene or tristriazolotriazine. Many of these shape-persistent [n]star compounds tend to π-stacking and self-organization, and exhibit interesting properties in materials science: Linear and non-linear optics, electrical conductivity, electroluminescence, formation of liquid crystalline phases, etc.

Conjugated oligoyne-bridged [60]fullerene molecular dumbbells: syntheses and thermal and morphological properties

A series of linear and star-shaped pi-conjugated oligomer hybrids (2-5) composed of an oligoyne core, ranging from 1,3-butadiyne to 1,3,5,7,9,11-dodecahexayne, and fullerenyl end-capping groups has been synthesized and studied. The molecular structures of these fullerene-oligoyne hybrids were assembled through three key reactions: Pd-catalyzed cross-coupling, Cu-catalyzed oxidative homocoupling, and an in situ alkynylation reaction on [60]fullerene. The properties of these compounds were investigated by UV-vis spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and atomic force microscopy (AFM) with the purpose of understanding the thermal reactivity arising from the oligoyne moieties as well as the morphological properties on surface. Our study shows that these fullerene-oligoyne hybrids tend to aggregate in different morphologies, including nanospheres, nanoflakes, and continuous thin films, while the morphological properties appear to be subject to the influence of molecular factors such as oligomer chain length, solubilizing alkylphenyl groups, and the thermal reactivity of the oligoyne unit. The correlation between molecular property and interfacial aggregation behavior evinced by these fullerene-oligoyne hybrids suggests a viable approach to exert bottom-up control over the structures and properties of fullerene based nanomaterials.

Self-association and electron transfer in donor-acceptor dyads connected by meta-substituted oligomers

The synthesis of a new series of electron donor-acceptor conjugates (5, 10, 13, and 16) in which the electron acceptor--C(60)--and the electron donor--pi-extended tetrathiafulvalene (exTTF)--are bridged by means of m-phenyleneethynylene spacers of variable length is reported. The unexpected self-association of these hybrids was first detected to occur in the gas phase by means of MALDI-TOF spectrometry and subsequently corroborated in solution by utilizing concentration-dependent and variable-temperature (1)H NMR experiments. Furthermore, the ability of these new conjugates to form wirelike structures upon deposition onto a mica surface has been demonstrated by AFM spectroscopy. In light of their photoactivity and redoxactivity, 5, 10, 13, and 16 were probed in concentration-dependent photophysical experiments. Importantly, absorption and fluorescence revealed subtle dissimilarities for the association constants, that is, a dependence on the length of the m-phenylene spacers. The binding strength is in 5 greatly reduced when compared with those in 10, 13, and 16. Not only that, the spacer length also plays a decisive role in governing excited-state interactions in the corresponding electron donor-acceptor conjugates (5, 10, 13, and 16). To this end, 5, in which the photo- and electroactive constituents are bridged by just one aromatic ring, displays--exclusively and independent of the concentration (10(-6) to 10(-4) M)--efficient intramolecular electron transfer events on the basis of a "through-bond" mechanism. On the contrary, the lack of conjugation throughout the bridges in 10 (two m-phenyleneethynylene rings), 13 (three m-phenyleneethynylene rings), and 16 (four m-phenyleneethynylene rings) favors at low concentration (10(-6) M) "through space" intramolecular electron transfer events. These are, however, quite ineffective and, in turn, lead to excited-state deactivations that are at high concentrations (10(-4) M) dominated by intracomplex electron transfer events, namely, between exTTF of one molecule and C(60) of another molecule, and that stabilize the resulting radical ion pair state with lifetimes reaching 4.0 micros.

Recent advances in the design, synthesis and study of covalent conjugated oligomer–C60 ensembles

This review presents an overview of the most recent results in the field of conjugated oligomer covalently attached to the C60 sphere focusing mainly on donor–conjugated oligomer–C60 triads and conjugated oligomer–multifullerene materials. Well-defined monodisperse oligomers as new materials that exhibit interesting optoelectronic properties have been the subject of intense study during the last decade. In this regard, a huge amount of work has been devoted to the development of new synthetic strategies toward the synthesis of conjugated oligomeric materials with precise length and constitution and to their chemical functionalization in order to incorporate them into more complex molecular and supramolecular architectures. An important area of research in the field of conjugated oligomers involves the design and synthesis of donor–acceptor ensembles by combination of monodisperse π-conjugated oligomeric systems with C60 fullerene. Such hybrid systems have shown excited-state interactions making them excellent candidates for fundamental photophysical studies. In addition, these materials have found applications in the field of photovoltaic devices. A review with 70 references.

Heteroleptic copper(I) complexes coupled with methano[60]fullerene: synthesis, electrochemistry, and photophysics

Heteroleptic copper(I) complexes CuPOP-F and CuFc-F have been prepared from a fullerene-substituted phenanthroline ligand and bis[2-(diphenylphosphino)phenyl] ether (POP) and 1,1'-bis(diphenylphosphino)ferrocene (dppFc), respectively. Electrochemical studies indicate that some ground-state electronic interaction between the fullerene subunit and the metal-complexed moiety are present in both CuPOP-F and CuFc-F. Their photophysical properties have been investigated by steady state and time-resolved UV-vis-NIR luminescence spectroscopy and nanosecond laser flash photolysis in a CH2Cl2 solution and compared to those of the corresponding model copper(I) complexes CuPOP and CuFc and of the fullerene model compound F. Selective excitation of the methanofullerene moiety in CuPOP-F results in regular deactivation of the lowest singlet and triplet states, indicating no intercomponent interactions. Conversely, excitation of the copper(I)-complexed unit (405 nm, 40% selectivity) shows that the strongly luminescent triplet metal-to-ligand charge-transfer ((3)MLCT) excited state located at 2.40 eV is quenched by the carbon sphere with a rate constant of 1.6 x 10(8) s(-1). Details on the mechanism of photodynamic processes in CuPOP-F via transient absorption are hampered by the rather unfavorable partition of light excitation between the two chromophores. By determination of the yield of formation of the lowest fullerene triplet level through sensitized singlet oxygen luminescence in the NIR region, it is shown that the final sink of photoinduced processes is always the fullerene triplet. This can be populated via a two-step charge-separation charge-recombination process and a less favored (3)MLCT --> (3)C60 triplet-triplet energy-transfer pathway. In CuFc-F, both of the photoexcited copper(I)-complexed and fullerene moieties are quenched by the presence of the ferrocene unit, most likely via ultrafast energy transfer.

Synthesis and photoisomerization of fullerene- and oligo(phenylene ethynylene)-azobenzene derivatives

The presence of fullerenes and oligo(phenylene ethynylene)s (OPEs) in azobenzene derivatives have a large effect on the photoisomerization behavior of the molecules. Fullerenes reduce the photoisomerization yield for cis isomers, and the OPEs, when directly attached to the azobenzenes, have a similar yet smaller effect when compared with the fullerenes. While these effects have not been previously considered for fullerene--and OPE-azobenzene derivatives, they were clearly detected in our work using NMR and UV-vis spectroscopy methods. The intramolecular electronic energy transfer between the fullerene and azobenzene moiety was examined in two cases in which separation of the two functional groups was small, as in 1, or large, as in 2. Almost no photoisomerization was observed for 1, while significant photoisomerization was observed for 2, apparently due to the effective isolation and blocking of electronic communication between the two functional groups.

Electronic and structural properties of oligophenylene ethynylenes on Au(111) surfaces

The interaction of oligophenylene ethynylene (OPE) on the (111) surface of a gold slab resembling a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) is investigated using ab initio density functional theory calculations. The authors performed a full optimization including all atoms in the OPE and in the slab to better understand OPE adsorption on the surface. It is found that OPE has two energetically favorable adsorption sites on the Au surface with relatively different molecular geometries: the nontop site adsorption greatly modifies the (111) surface structure; however, the extensive electron interactions enable a delocalized electron density distribution, implying an improved conductivity between OPE and Au, and the top site which is 0.9 eV higher in energy than the nontop and features weaker Au-S bonds. Interestingly the on top configuration shows a strong spin imbalance along the molecule and the nontop shows a small spin imbalance on the surface. This feature is of strong interest for the development of resonators for the detection of chemical and biological agents. They have also calculated the frequency spectrum of these SAMs, which yield deformations in the gold surface yielding peak frequency shifts specific to each absorption site.