Near-Infrared Absorbing Para-Azaquinodimethane Conjugated Polymers Synthesized via the Transition-Metal-Free Route toward Efficient Photothermal Conversion

Conjugated polymers with strong absorption in the second near-infrared (NIR-II) window have multiple applications. However, the development of new type of NIR-II conjugated polymers via facile and green methods remains challenging. Herein, this work reports a mild and convenient transition-metal-free method to synthesize near-infrared absorbing quinoidal conjugated polymers containing para-azaquinodimethane (AQM) moieties. The AQM quinoidal conjugated polymers with unique molecular structures and tunable optoelectronic properties can be synthesized by combining the Knoevenagel polycondensation of aromatic dialdehyde monomers with commercially available 1,4-diacetyl-2,5-piperazinedione and the following alkylation reaction. The resultant polymer PQ-DPP shows remarkable NIR-II absorption with a narrow band gap of about 1.08 eV. PQ-DPP nanoparticles exhibit high photothermal conversion efficiency of up to 48% under 1064 nm laser irradiation (1 W cm-2) endowing this polymer with potential in bio-related applications.

Nonstoichiometric Direct Arylation Polymerization of Octafluorobiphenyl with 2,7-Diiodofluorene for Regulating CH Terminals of π-Conjugated Polymer

Nonstoichiometric direct arylation polycondensation of 2,2',3,3',5,5',6,6'-octafluorobiphenyl with excess of 2,7-diiodo-9,9-dioctyl-9H-fluorene is demonstrated. Pd/Ag dual-catalyst system under water/2-methyltetrahydrofuran biphasic conditions enables direct arylation under mild conditions and promotes the intramolecular transfer of a Pd catalyst walking through the fluorene moiety. The nonstoichiometric direct arylation polycondensation under the optimized reaction conditions produces the corresponding π-conjugated polymer with a high molecular weight and terminal octafluorobiphenyl units at both ends.

Organic Synthesis Using Nitroxides

Nitroxides, also known as nitroxyl radicals, are long-lived or stable radicals with the general structure R1R2N-O•. The spin distribution over the nitroxide N and O atoms contributes to the thermodynamic stability of these radicals. The presence of bulky N-substituents R1 and R2 prevents nitroxide radical dimerization, ensuring their kinetic stability. Despite their reactivity toward various transient C radicals, some nitroxides can be easily stored under air at room temperature. Furthermore, nitroxides can be oxidized to oxoammonium salts (R1R2N═O+) or reduced to anions (R1R2N-O-), enabling them to act as valuable oxidants or reductants depending on their oxidation state. Therefore, they exhibit interesting reactivity across all three oxidation states. Due to these fascinating properties, nitroxides find extensive applications in diverse fields such as biochemistry, medicinal chemistry, materials science, and organic synthesis. This review focuses on the versatile applications of nitroxides in organic synthesis. For their use in other important fields, we will refer to several review articles. The introductory part provides a brief overview of the history of nitroxide chemistry. Subsequently, the key methods for preparing nitroxides are discussed, followed by an examination of their structural diversity and physical properties. The main portion of this review is dedicated to oxidation reactions, wherein parent nitroxides or their corresponding oxoammonium salts serve as active species. It will be demonstrated that various functional groups (such as alcohols, amines, enolates, and alkanes among others) can be efficiently oxidized. These oxidations can be carried out using nitroxides as catalysts in combination with various stoichiometric terminal oxidants. By reducing nitroxides to their corresponding anions, they become effective reducing reagents with intriguing applications in organic synthesis. Nitroxides possess the ability to selectively react with transient radicals, making them useful for terminating radical cascade reactions by forming alkoxyamines. Depending on their structure, alkoxyamines exhibit weak C-O bonds, allowing for the thermal generation of C radicals through reversible C-O bond cleavage. Such thermally generated C radicals can participate in various radical transformations, as discussed toward the end of this review. Furthermore, the application of this strategy in natural product synthesis will be presented.

A novel boron ketoiminate-based conjugated polymer with large Stokes shift: AIEE feature and cell imaging application

A novel π-extended boron ketoiminate-based conjugated polymer with a typical AIEE feature has been successfully synthesized and used for cell imaging application.

Hyperbranched conjugated polymers containing 1,3-butadiene units: metal-free catalyzed synthesis and selective chemosensors for Fe3+ ions

Hyperbranched polymers containing 1,3-butadiene units in main chain were synthesized by transition-metal-free catalysis and investigated as chemosensors for Fe³⁺ ions.

Homocoupling of heteroaryl/aryl/alkyl Grignard reagents: I2-promoted, or Ni- or Pd- or Cu- or nano-Fe-based salt catalyzed

Five efficient processes for the homo-coupling of various Grignard reagents including aryl, heteroaryl and aliphatic ones in the presence of I₂, Pd(OAc)₂, Ni(OAc)₂, CuI, and nano-Fe₃O₄ were developed, respectively.

Progress and developments in the turbo Grignard reagent i-PrMgCl·LiCl: a ten-year journey

The structural and kinetic perspectives of i-PrMgCl·LiCl help to rationalize the trends of its unique reactivity and selectivity.

Bis(phenolate)amine-supported lanthanide borohydride complexes for styrene and trans-1,4-isoprene (co-)polymerisations

New bis(phenolate)amine-supported neodymium borohydride complexes and their previously reported samarium analogues were tested as catalysts for the polymerisation of styrene and isoprene.

TEMPO-mediated homocoupling of aryl Grignard reagents: mechanistic studies

The mechanism of TEMPO mediated oxidative homo-coupling of aryl Grignard reagents to biphenyls is investigated in detail by experimental and computational studies.

Far-red/near-infrared fluorescent conjugated polymer nanoparticles with size-dependent chirality and cell imaging applications

We prepared a series of novel chiral far-red/near-infrared fluorescent CPNs with different nanoparticle sizes, which show size-dependent chirality and are successfully employed for cell imaging.

Copper-catalyzed oxidative homo- and cross-coupling of Grignard reagents using diaziridinone

Transition-metal-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions are among the most powerful synthetic transformations. This paper describes an efficient copper-catalyzed homo- and cross-coupling of Grignard reagents with di-tert-butyldiaziridinone as oxidant under mild conditions, giving the coupling products in good to excellent yields. The reaction process has a broad substrate scope and is also effective for the C(sp)-C(sp(3)) coupling.

Highly selective fluorescence turn-on sensor for fluoride detection

Through click chemistry, triazole and triazolium groups have been explored to recognize anions through C-H···A(-) hydrogen-bonding complexion. Herein, we demonstrate evidence of fluoride-induced deprotonation of a C-H bond and its application in fluoride detection. The combination of fluorene and triazolium units produced a highly selective fluorescence turn-on prototype sensor for fluoride. The interactions between the C-H bond and F(-) were studied by fluorescence spectroscopy and (1)H NMR titrations. Test papers were prepared to detect fluoride in aqueous media at concentrations down to 1.9 ppm, important for estimating whether the fluoride concentration in drinking water is at a safe level.

Design and synthesis of monofunctionalized, water-soluble conjugated polymers for biosensing and imaging applications

Water-soluble conjugated polymers with controlled molecular weight characteristics, absence of ionic groups, high emission quantum yields, and end groups capable of selective reactions of wide scope are desirable for improving their performance in various applications and, in particular, fluorescent biosensor schemes. The synthesis of such a structure is described herein. 2-Bromo-7-iodofluorene with octakis(ethylene glycol) monomethyl ether chains at the 9,9'-positions, i.e., compound 4, was prepared as the reactive premonomer. A high-yielding synthesis of the organometallic initiator (dppe)Ni(Ph)Br (dppe = 1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane) was designed and implemented, and the resulting product was characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction techniques. Polymerization of 4 by (dppe)Ni(Ph)Br can be carried out in less than 30 s, affording excellent control over the average molecular weight and polydispersity of the product. Quenching of the polymerization with [2-(trimethylsilyl)ethynyl]magnesium bromide yields silylacetylene-terminated water-soluble poly(fluorene) with a photoluminescence quantum efficiency of 80%. Desilylation, followed by copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition reaction, yields a straightforward route to introduce a wide range of specific end group functionalities. Biotin was used as an example. The resulting biotinylated conjugated polymer binds to streptavidin and acts as a light-harvesting chromophore to optically amplify the emission of Alexa Fluor-488 chromophores bound onto the streptavidin. Furthermore, the biotin end group makes it possible to bind the polymer onto streptavidin-functionalized cross-linked agarose beads and thereby incorporate a large number of optically active segments.

Nitroxides: applications in synthesis and in polymer chemistry

This Review describes the application of nitroxides to synthesis and polymer chemistry. The synthesis and physical properties of nitroxides are discussed first. The largest section focuses on their application as stoichiometric and catalytic oxidants in organic synthesis. The oxidation of alcohols and carbanions, as well as oxidative C-C bond-forming reactions are presented along with other typical oxidative transformations. A section is also dedicated to the extensive use of nitroxides as trapping reagents for C-centered radicals in radical chemistry. Alkoxyamines derived from nitroxides are shown to be highly useful precursors of C-centered radicals in synthesis and also in polymer chemistry. The last section discusses the basics of nitroxide-mediated radical polymerization (NMP) and also highlights new developments in the synthesis of complex polymer architectures.