Crystal Structures of a Molecule Designed Not To Pack Tightly

A Novel Homoconjugated Propellane Triimide: Synthesis, Structural Analyses, and Gas Separation

Rigid three-dimensional (3D) polycyclic propellanes have garnered interest due to their unique conformational spaces, which display great potential use in selectivity, separation and as models to study through-space electronic interactions. Herein we report the synthesis of a novel rigid propellane, trinaphtho[3.3.3]propellane triimide, which comprises three imide groups embedded on a trinaphtho[3.3.3]propellane. This propellane triimide exhibits large bathochromic shift, amplified molar absorptivity, enhanced fluorescence, and lower reduction potential when compared to the subunits. Computational and experimental studies reveal that the effective through-space π-orbitals interacting (homoconjugation) occurs between the subunits. Single-crystal XRD analysis reveals that the propellane triimide has a highly quasi-D3h symmetric skeleton and readily crystallizes into different superstructures by changing alkyl chains at the imide positions. In particular, the porous 3D superstructure with S-shaped channels is promising for taking up ethane (C2H6) with very good selectivity over ethylene (C2H4), which can purify C2H4 from C2H6/C2H4 in a single separation step. This work showcases a new class of rare 3D polycyclic propellane with intriguing electronic and supramolecular properties.

Hierarchical Self-Assembly of Curved Aromatics: From Donor-Acceptor Porphyrins to Triply Periodic Minimal Surfaces

A saddle-shaped π-extended zinc porphyrin containing a peripheral pyridyl ligand undergoes quantitative self-assembly into a cyclic trimer. The trimer has a prismatic structure with negatively curved side walls, which promote the formation of supramolecular organic frameworks stabilized by dispersion interactions. The first framework type, UWr-1, has the npo topology, with a hexagonal structure analogous to the Schwartz H triply periodic minimal surface. Co-crystallization of the trimer with either C60 and C70 produces the isomorphous cubic UWr-2 and UWr-3 phases, characterized by the ctn network topology and a structural relationship to the Fischer-Koch minimal surface S. All three phases contain complex labyrinths of solvent-filled channels, corresponding to very large probe-accessible volumes (68 % to 76 %). The UWr-2 network could be partly desolvated while retaining its long range dimensional order, indicating remarkable strength of the dispersion interactions in the crystal. A theoretical analysis of noncovalent interactions shows the role of geometrical matching between the negatively curved porphyrin units and positively curved fullerenes.

Porous Organic Cages

Porous organic cages (POCs) are a relatively new class of low-density crystalline materials that have emerged as a versatile platform for investigating molecular recognition, gas storage and separation, and proton conduction, with potential applications in the fields of porous liquids, highly permeable membranes, heterogeneous catalysis, and microreactors. In common with highly extended porous structures, such as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), covalent organic frameworks (COFs), and porous organic polymers (POPs), POCs possess all of the advantages of highly specific surface areas, porosities, open pore channels, and tunable structures. In addition, they have discrete molecular structures and exhibit good to excellent solubilities in common solvents, enabling their solution dispersibility and processability─properties that are not readily available in the case of the well-established, insoluble, extended porous frameworks. Here, we present a critical review summarizing in detail recent progress and breakthroughs─especially during the past five years─of all the POCs while taking a close look at their strategic design, precise synthesis, including both irreversible bond-forming chemistry and dynamic covalent chemistry, advanced characterization, and diverse applications. We highlight representative POC examples in an attempt to gain some understanding of their structure-function relationships. We also discuss future challenges and opportunities in the design, synthesis, characterization, and application of POCs. We anticipate that this review will be useful to researchers working in this field when it comes to designing and developing new POCs with desired functions.

Acene-Extended Triptycenes: Synthesis, Characterization, and Singlet Exciton Fission Properties

Three acene-extended triptycenes, TIPS-Antrip, TIPS-Tetrip, and TIPS-Pentrip, which contain TIPS-ethynyl functionalized anthracene, tetracene, and pentacene as subunits, respectively, are synthesized and characterized. It is found that the optoelectronic properties and crystal packing motifs could be modulated by changing the subunits. A preliminary exploration of the excited-state behavior of these molecules indicates that TIPS-Tetrip and TIPS-Pentrip exhibit intramolecular singlet fission (iSF).

Recent Advances in Heterocyclic Nanographenes and Other Polycyclic Heteroaromatic Compounds

This review surveys recent progress in the chemistry of polycyclic heteroaromatic molecules with a focus on structural diversity and synthetic methodology. The article covers literature published during the period of 2016-2020, providing an update to our first review of this topic (Chem. Rev. 2017, 117 (4), 3479-3716).

Columnar Mesomorphism of Board-Shaped Perylene, Diketopyrrolopyrrole, Isoindigo, Indigo, and Quinoxalino-Phenanthrophenazine Dyes

The properties of organic dyes depend as much on their intermolecular interactions as on their molecular structure. While it is generally predictable what supramolecular structure would be ideal for a specific application, the generation of specific supramolecular structures by molecular design and suitable processing methods remains to be a challenge. A versatile approach to different supramolecular structures has been the application of mesomorphism in conjunction with alignment techniques and self-assembly at interfaces. Reviewed here is the columnar mesomorphism of board-shaped dyes perylene, indigo, isoindigo, diketopyrrolopyrrole, and quinoxalinophenanthrophenazine. They generate a larger number of different supramolecular structures than conventional disc-shaped (discotic) mesogens because of their non-circular shape and directional intermolecular interactions. The mesomorphism of all but the perylene derivatives is systematically and comprehensively covered for the first time.

Soluble Congeners of Prior Insoluble Shape-Persistent Imine Cages

One of the most applied reaction types to synthesize shape‐persistent organic cage compounds is the imine condensation reaction and it is assumed that the formed cages are thermodynamically controlled products due to the reversibility of the imine condensation. However, most of the synthesized imine cages reported are formed as precipitate from the reaction mixture and therefore rather may be kinetically controlled products. There are even examples in literature, where resulting cages are not soluble at all in common organic solvents to characterize or study their formation by NMR spectroscopy in solution. Here, a triptycene triamine containing three solubilizing n‐hexyloxy chains has been used to synthesize soluble congeners of prior insoluble cages. This allowed us to study the formation as well as the reversibility of cage formation in solution by investigating exchange of building blocks between the cages and deuterated derivatives thereof.

Benzo-Fused Perylene Oligomers with up to 13 Linearly Annulated Rings

The longer acenes with more than six linearly fused six-membered rings are still fascinating chemists and physicists because of their unique photophysical properties and their high potential for organic electronics applications. Unfortunately, with increasing size (seven and more rings) these compounds rapidly lose chemical stability. Besides kinetic and chemical stabilization approaches introducing either bulky or electron-withdrawing groups or both, such systems also have been stabilized by peri-annulation. Although strictly spoken, these peri-annulated compounds are no longer real acenes, they have fascinating properties as well. Herein, we describe the first synthesis of a new series of peri-annulated acenes with up to 13 linearly fused rings, which is unprecedented till date. Furthermore, this new series contains perylene units connected through benzene rings along their [b,k]edges, responsible for unique absorption and emission properties.

Digital navigation of energy-structure-function maps for hydrogen-bonded porous molecular crystals

Energy-structure-function (ESF) maps can aid the targeted discovery of porous molecular crystals by predicting the stable crystalline arrangements along with their functions of interest. Here, we compute ESF maps for a series of rigid molecules that comprise either a triptycene or a spiro-biphenyl core, functionalized with six different hydrogen-bonding moieties. We show that the positioning of the hydrogen-bonding sites, as well as their number, has a profound influence on the shape of the resulting ESF maps, revealing promising structure-function spaces for future experiments. We also demonstrate a simple and general approach to representing and inspecting the high-dimensional data of an ESF map, enabling an efficient navigation of the ESF data to identify 'landmark' structures that are energetically favourable or functionally interesting. This is a step toward the automated analysis of ESF maps, an important goal for closed-loop, autonomous searches for molecular crystals with useful functions.

Synthesis and Optoelectronic Properties of a Quinoxalino-Phenanthrophenazine (QPP) Extended Tribenzotriquinacene (TBTQ)

A six‐step synthesis towards a tribenzotriquinacene (TBTQ) bearing three quinoxalinophenanthrophenazine (QPP) units is presented. The optoelectronic properties are investigated and the effect of the three‐dimensional arrangement of the individual QPP planes is examined using optical spectroscopy, electrochemical analysis and quantum‐chemical calculations.

Triptycene End-Capping as Strategy in Materials Chemistry to Control Crystal Packing and Increase Solubility

In materials chemistry of polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs) the kind of aggregation and the spatial arrangement of the π-planes are of utmost importance, e. g. for charge transport properties. Unfortunately, controlling these during crystallization is not trivial. In the past decade, we have introduced one-fold triptycene end-capping of quinoxalinophenanthrophenazines (QPPs) and other related structures to overcome this problem. When two instead of one triptycene end-caps are introduced, packing is largely suppressed, making typical PACs or pigments soluble in common organic solvents - which is another important property for such compounds to be processable from solution. In this account an overview of our research on using triptycene end-capping as dual strategy is given.

Triptycene End-Capped Indigo Derivatives - Turning Insoluble Pigments to Soluble Dyes

The synthesis of a highly soluble triptycene end-capped indigo and its bay annulated derivative is reported. Both compounds have been studied by absorption and emission spectroscopy cyclic voltammetry, as well as theoretical calculations and compared to the parent indigo and bay annulated indigo. Besides a large improvement of solubility in organic solvents by the factor of approx. 70(!) the compounds also show a pronounced tendency to form crystals. Both properties, making these compounds promising electron acceptors for organic electronics.

A Triptycene-Based Enantiopure Bis(Diazadibenzoanthracene) by a Chirality-Assisted Synthesis Approach

By applying a chirality-assisted synthesis (CAS) approach enantiopure diaminodibromotriptycenes were converted to rigid chiral helical diazadibenzoanthracenes, which show besides pronounced Cotton effects in circular dichroism spectra higher photoluminescence quantum yields as comparable carbacyclic analogues. For the enantiopure building blocks, a protocol was developed allowing the large scale synthesis without the necessity of separation via HPLC.

Regiocontrolled dimerization of asymmetric diazaheptacene derivatives toward X-shaped porous semiconductors

Conformationally rigid X-shaped PAHs are attracting interest due to their self-assembly into unique networks and as models to study through-space exciton and charge delocalization in one single molecule. We report here the synthesis of X-shaped PAHs by dimerization of diazaheptacene diimides. The diimide groups are employed to effectively direct the self-assembly into antiparallel dimer aggregates, which assist the compounds to undergo a regiocontrolled [4 + 4] dimerization, leading to an X-shaped conformation bearing electron-poor and -rich subunits. The resulting PAHs are found to pack in 2D layers with large open channels and infinite π⋯π arrays. Furthermore, these highly crystalline porous materials serve as electron-transporting materials in OFETs due to the long-range π-stacked arrays in the layers. This work presents a potentially generalizable strategy, which may provide a unique class of porous semiconductors for organic devices, taking advantage of their open channels.

The synthesis of conformationally rigid X-shaped PAHs by regiocontrolled cyclodimerization of diazaheptacene diimides is presented. The resulting porous materials exhibit enhanced semiconducting behaviors with large open channels.

Di- and Tetracyano-Substituted Pyrene-Fused Pyrazaacenes: Aggregation in the Solid State

Five di- and tetracyano-substituted pyrene-fused pyrazaacenes were synthesized and studied as potential electron acceptors in the solid state. Single crystals of all compounds were grown and the crystal packing studied by DFT calculations (transfer integrals and reorganization energies) to get insight into possible use for semiconducting charge transport.

Bright, stable, and efficient red light-emitting electrochemical cells using contorted nanographenes

This work rationalizes, for the first time, the electroluminescent behavior of a representative red-emitting contorted nanographene -i.e., hexabenzoovalene derivative - in small molecule light-emitting electrochemical cells (SM-LECs). This new emitter provides devices with irradiances of ca. 220 μW cm^-2 (242 cd m^-2), external quantum efficiencies (EQE) of 0.78% (<25% loss of the maximum theoretical EQE), and stabilities over 200 h. Upon optimizing the device architecture, the stability increased up to 3600 h (measured) and 13 000 h (extrapolated) at a high brightness of ca. 30 μW cm^-2 (34 cd m^-2). This represents a record stability at a high brightness level compared to the state-of-the-art SM-LECs (1000 h at 0.3 μW cm^-2). In addition, we rationalized one of the very rare LEC examples in which the changes of the electroluminescence band shape relates to the dependence of the relative intensity of the vibrational peaks with electric field, as corroborated by dynamic electrochemical impedance spectroscopy assays. Nevertheless, this exclusive electroluminescence behavior does not affect the device color, realizing one of the most stable, bright, and efficient red-emitting SM-LECs up to date.

Microporous Triptycene-Based Affinity Materials on Quartz Crystal Microbalances for Tracing of Illicit Compounds

Triptycene-based organic molecules of intrinsic microporosity (OMIMs) with extended functionalized π-surfaces are excellent materials for gas sorption and separation. In this study, the affinities of triptycene-based OMIM affinity materials on 195 MHz high-fundamental-frequency quartz crystal microbalances (HFF-QCMs) for hazardous and illicit compounds such as piperonal and (-)-norephedrine were determined. Both new and existing porous triptycene-based affinity materials were investigated, resulting in very high sensitivities and selectivities that could be applied for sensing purposes. Remarkable results were found for safrole - a starting material for illicit compounds such as ecstasy. A systematic approach highlights the effects of different size of π-surfaces of these affinity materials, allowing a classification of the properties that might be optimal for the design of future OMIM-based affinity materials.

N-Acenoacenes

The syntheses of new, fourfold alkynylated tetraazaacenoacenes (tetraazaanthracenoanthracene, tetraazatetracenotetracene and tetraazapentacenopentacene) are reported. This novel heteroacenoacene motif exhibits surprisingly strong electronic coupling between its constituting diazaacene units.

Triptycene End-Capped Quinoxalinophenanthrophenazines (QPPs): Influence of Substituents and Conditions on Aggregation in the Solid State

Triptycene end-capped quinoxalinophenanthrophenazine reveals a coplanar arrangement with a high overlap of the π planes. Four structurally related model compounds bearing electron-withdrawing or -donating groups were synthesized, and their optoelectronic properties were characterized by using cyclovoltammetry, absorption- and emission spectroscopy as well as theoretical calculations. The directional robustness of the triptycene end-capping of these compounds was tested by using single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The impact of solvents and crystallization conditions has also been investigated. In total, 17 single-crystal structures were obtained. Each structure was evaluated for its potential charge-transfer capability taking into account the overall molecular packing, solvent enclathration and the structural overlap of the π planes of adjacent molecules. For this purpose, charge-transfer integrals were also calculated for every π-stacked dimer.

Mono- and Dianion of a Bis(benzobuta)tetraazapentacene Derivative

A bis(benzobuta)tetraazapentacene derivative was reduced to its radical anion and its dianion, using potassium [18]crown-6 anthracenide in THF. Both reduced species were characterized by UV/Vis spectroscopy of the isolated species and by spectroelectrochemistry. Two distinct single-crystal structures of the dianion and an EPR spectrum of the radical anion were obtained. Contrary to other azaacenes, the lowest energy absorption in the UV/Vis spectrum of the dianion is redshifted in comparison to that of the neutral compound.

Triperyleno[3,3,3]propellane triimides: achieving a new generation of quasi-D 3h symmetric nanostructures in organic electronics

Rigid three-dimensional (3D) polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), in particular 3D nanographenes, have garnered interest due to their potential use in semiconductor applications and as models to study through-bond and through-space electronic interactions. Herein we report the development of a novel 3D-symmetric rylene imide building block, triperyleno[3,3,3]propellane triimides (6), that possesses three perylene monoimide subunits fused on a propellane. This building block shows several promising characteristics, including high solubility, large π-surfaces, electron-accepting capabilities, and a variety of reactive sites. Further, the building block is compatible with different reactions to readily yield quasi-D 3h symmetric nanostructures (9, 11, and 13) of varied chemistries. For the 3D nanostructures we observed red-shift absorption maxima and amplification of the absorption coefficients when compared to the individual subunits, indicating intramolecular electronic coupling among the subunits. In addition, the microplates of 9 exhibit comparable mobilities in different directions in the range of 10-3 cm2 V-1 s-1, despite the rather limited intermolecular overlap of the π-conjugated moieties. These findings demonstrate that these quasi-D 3h symmetric rylene imides have potential as 3D nanostructures for a range of materials applications, including in organic electronic devices.

Three-Dimensional Pyrene-Fused N-Heteroacenes

Four three-dimensional (3D) pyrene-fused N-heteroacenes (P1-P4) are designed and synthesized. From P1 to P4, their lengths are extended in an iterative way, where the thiadiazole unit can be reduced to diamine and the obtained diamines can be further condensed with the diketones with a thiadiazole unit. Compared to their two-dimensional counterparts, the solubility of these 3D pyrene-fused N-heteroacenes is improved by this 3D covalent linkage with two-dimensional units. The diameters of P1-P4 are 3.66, 6.06, 8.48 and 10.88 nm, respectively, and these 3D molecules are characterized by 1H, 13C and 2D NMR, MS, UV-vis, PL and CV spectra. Our strategy shows a promising way to large 3D pyrene-fused N-heteroacenes.

Dissecting Porosity in Molecular Crystals: Influence of Geometry, Hydrogen Bonding, and [π···π] Stacking on the Solid-State Packing of Fluorinated Aromatics

Porous molecular crystals are an emerging class of porous materials that is unique in being built from discrete molecules rather than being polymeric in nature. In this study, we examined the effects of molecular structure of the precursors on the formation of porous solid-state structures with a series of 16 rigid aromatics. The majority of these precursors possess pyrazole groups capable of hydrogen bonding, as well as electron-rich aromatics and electron-poor tetrafluorobenzene rings. These precursors were prepared using a combination of Pd- and Cu-catalyzed cross-couplings, careful manipulations of protecting groups on the nitrogen atoms, and solvothermal syntheses. Our study varied the geometry and dimensions of precursors, as well as the presence of groups capable of hydrogen bonding and [π···π] stacking. Thirteen derivatives were crystallographically characterized, and four of them were found to be porous with surface areas between 283 and 1821 m² g^-1. Common to these four porous structures were (a) rigid trigonal geometry, (b) [π···π] stacking of electron-poor tetrafluorobenzenes with electron-rich pyrazoles or tetrazoles, and

Ligand-Based Phase Control in Porous Molecular Assemblies

Functionalization of isophthalic acid ligands with linear alkoxide groups from ethoxy through pentoxy is shown to have a pronounced effect on both the synthesis of porous paddlewheel-based molecular assemblies and their resulting surface areas and gas adsorption properties. Shorter chain length is compatible with either tetragonal or hexagonal two-dimensional materials, with the hexagonal phase favored with longer chain length. Precise tuning of reaction conditions affords discrete molecular species that are soluble in a variety of organic solvents. The isolated porous molecules display BET surface areas ranging from 125 m²/g to 545 m²/g. The pentoxide-based molecular assembly shows considerable promise for the separation of hydrocarbons with average isosteric heats of adsorption of -48 and -31 kJ/mol for ethylene and ethane, respectively.

Synthesis and characterization of two different azarubrenes

Synthesis and structural characterization of novel di- and tetraazarubrenes with increased electron affinity are described.

Functional materials discovery using energy-structure-function maps

Molecular crystals cannot be designed in the same manner as macroscopic objects, because they do not assemble according to simple, intuitive rules. Their structures result from the balance of many weak interactions, rather than from the strong and predictable bonding patterns found in metal-organic frameworks and covalent organic frameworks. Hence, design strategies that assume a topology or other structural blueprint will often fail. Here we combine computational crystal structure prediction and property prediction to build energy-structure-function maps that describe the possible structures and properties that are available to a candidate molecule. Using these maps, we identify a highly porous solid, which has the lowest density reported for a molecular crystal so far. Both the structure of the crystal and its physical properties, such as methane storage capacity and guest-molecule selectivity, are predicted using the molecular structure as the only input. More generally, energy-structure-function maps could be used to guide the experimental discovery of materials with any target function that can be calculated from predicted crystal structures, such as electronic structure or mechanical properties.

Open network structures from 2D hydrogen bonded networks: diaminotriazyl tetraoxapentacenes

Crystals of 1 show two-dimensional hydrogen-bonded sheets that are prevented from packing closely by the large core, resulting in open network structures.

Planar versus triptycenylene end-capped aroyleneimidazoles as electron acceptors in organic photovoltaics

The effect of triptycenylene end-groups on the optoelectronic properties of aroyleneimidazoles and their performance as acceptors in bulk heterojunction photovoltaic devices are described.

Arene Selectivity by a Flexible Coordination Polymer Host

The coordination polymers [Ag4 (O2 CCF3 )4 (phen)3 ]⋅ phen⋅arene (1⋅phen⋅arene) (phen=phenazine; arene=toluene, p-xylene or benzene) have been synthesised from the solution phase in a series of arene solvents and crystallographically characterised. By contrast, analogous syntheses from o-xylene and m-xylene as the solvent yield the solvent-free coordination polymer [Ag4 (O2 CCF3 )4 (phen)2 ] (2). Toluene, p-xylene and benzene have been successfully used in mixed-arene syntheses to template the formation of coordination polymers 1⋅phen⋅arene, which incorporate o- or m-xylene. The selectivity of 1⋅phen⋅arene for the arene guests was determined, through pairwise competition experiments, to be p-xylene>toluene≈benzene>o-xylene>m-xylene. The largest selectivity coefficient was determined as 14.2 for p-xylene:m-xylene and the smallest was 1.0 for toluene:benzene.

The Synthesis of Organic Molecules of Intrinsic Microporosity Designed to Frustrate Efficient Molecular Packing

Efficient reactions between fluorine-functionalised biphenyl and terphenyl derivatives with catechol-functionalised terminal groups provide a route to large, discrete organic molecules of intrinsic microporosity (OMIMs) that provide porous solids solely by their inefficient packing. By altering the size and substituent bulk of the terminal groups, a number of soluble compounds with apparent BET surface areas in excess of 600 m(2)  g(-1) are produced. The efficiency of OMIM structural units for generating microporosity is in the order: propellane>triptycene>hexaphenylbenzene>spirobifluorene>naphthyl=phenyl. The introduction of bulky hydrocarbon substituents significantly enhances microporosity by further reducing packing efficiency. These results are consistent with findings from previously reported packing simulation studies. The introduction of methyl groups at the bridgehead position of triptycene units reduces intrinsic microporosity. This is presumably due to their internal position within the OMIM structure so that they occupy space, but unlike peripheral substituents they do not contribute to the generation of free volume by inefficient packing.