Synthesis and Electronic Properties of Directly Linked Dihydrodiazatetracene Dimers

Temperature-dependent photoluminescence down to 77 K of organotin molecular rotors: eco-friendly synthesis, photophysical characterization, X-ray structures, and DFT studies

Fluorescent organotin compounds are useful in sensing, optoelectronic devices, and in vitro bioimaging. Although in vitro fluorescence bioimaging shows low resolution at room temperature, a better resolution is possible at cryotemperatures. Therefore, the search for new cryoluminescent materials with potential application in high-resolution fluorescence bioimaging remains a great challenge. Herein, we report the cryoluminescence properties of two fluorescent bis-organotin compounds, namely, BisNTHySnBu2 (5) and BisNTHySnPh2 (6), synthesized via microwave irradiation. All compounds were fully characterized using 1H, 13C, and 119Sn NMR spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, IR spectroscopy, and HR-MS. The 119Sn δ and 3J(1H,119Sn) of 5 and 6 indicate that two Sn-ligands are chemically and electronically equivalent, as confirmed by cyclic voltammetry. The crystal structure of 6 showed pentacoordinate tin atoms with skeleton ligands. The study of self-assembled monolayers of both Sn-complexes via STM microscopy revealed a similar supramolecular packing in lamella-like patterns, adopting a face-on arrangement, where molecules stay flat lying on HOPG in accordance with the height profile of closely packed monolayers on graphite of about 0.33 nm thickness. However, only the Sn complex 6, which bears phenyls, covers large surface areas. The photophysical properties of bis-organotin compounds were also investigated in solution (room and low temperatures) and in the solid state. Good luminescence properties in solutions with fluorescence quantum yields (Φ) of approximately 35% and 50% were found. Despite this, Φ is quenched in the solid state because of aggregation, as supported by solvent/non solvent fluorescence studies, which is in agreement with STM and AFM investigation.

Solvent-free synthesis and chiroptical properties of a C-N axially chiral cruciform dimer of benzo[b]phenoxazine

A novel C-N axially chiral molecule composed of two tert-butyl-substituted benzo[b]phenoxazine (BPO) was synthesized via solvent-free reactions. The absolute configurations of the enantiomers were determined by X-ray single-crystal analysis. The enantiomers had a sufficiently high racemization barrier to ignore racemization at room temperature (149 ± 20 kJ mol-1), and the solutions exhibited dual circularly polarized emissions stemming from fluorescence and phosphorescence of |gCPL| = ca. 1 × 10-3.

N,N-Diphenyl Dihydrophenazines: Using π-Extension to Access Dicationic Multifunctional Materials

Dihydrophenazines are receiving increasing attention due to applications in numerous fields of chemistry, from light emission to organo-photocatalysis. Despite this growing interest and numerous works involving the preparation of radical cations based on this scaffold, the isolation and study of the aromatic dications obtained by 2 electron oxidation of dihydrophenazines is still mostly unexplored. From this point of view, along with the substitution at the N atoms generally used to tune dihydrophenazine properties, the π-extension of the phenazine core could play a crucial role in making dicationic states accessible. This could result in an extension of the knowledge on these elusive dications and in potentially highly interesting applications ranging from material science to molecular actuators.

Environmental effects on the singlet fission phenomenon: a model Hamiltonian-based study

In the screening of compounds for singlet fission, the relative energies of the constitutive units are decisive to fulfil the thermodynamic rules. From a model Hamiltonian constructed on the local spin states of an active chromophore and its environment, it is suggested that embedding greatly influences the energy differences of the active monomer spin states. Even in the absence of charge transfer, the field generated by a singlet environment produces an increase of the [E(S₁) - E(S₀)]/[E(T₁) - E(S₀)] critical ratio by up to 6% as compared to the one of a free chromophore. Besides, variations are observed when the intimate electronic structure of the singlet environment is modified. This propensity towards singlet fission is even more pronounced (10%) when the environment is switched to the triplet state. Finally, the embedding is likely to reverse the spin state ordering in the limit of vanishing atomic orbital overlaps. Despite its simplicity, the model stresses the importance of the environment spin nature in the quest for singlet fission candidates, and more generally in spectroscopy analysis.

Potential Building Blocks for 1,4-Dihydro-N-heteroacenes

Studies have been performed aimed at the synthesis of N-heteroacenes via substitution reactions of 4,5-difluoro-1,2-dinitrobenzene with a diamine. The fluorine atoms are displaced first, followed by an activated nitro group. Two intermediates have been characterised by X-ray single-crystal structure determinations. Their intermolecular interactions were examined by Hirshfeld surfaces to assess their suitability for organic molecular electronics. The high reactivity of the phenazine, which is prone to oxidise and rearrange, as are displacement products prepared from it, is explained by the formation of a cis-aci-nitro form from the secondary amine of the phenazine and a nitro group.

Phenanthrene-Extended Phenazine Dication: An Electrochromic Conformational Switch Presenting Dual Reactivity

The synthesis and isolation of one of the few examples of a π-extended diamagnetic phenazine dication have been achieved by oxidizing a phenanthrene-based dihydrophenazine precursor. The resulting dication was isolated and fully characterized, highlighting an aromatic distorted structure, generated by the conformational change upon the oxidation of the dihydrophenazine precursor, which is also correlated with a marked electrochromic change in the UV–vis spectrum. The aromaticity of the dication has also been investigated theoretically, proving that the species is aromatic based on all major criteria (structural, magnetic, and energetic). Moreover, the material presents an intriguing dual reactivity, resulting in ring contraction to a π-extended triarylimidazolinium and reduction to the dihydrophenazine precursor, depending on the nature of the nucleophile involved. This result helps shed light on the yet largely unexplored reactivity and properties of extended dicationic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). In particular, the fact that the molecule can undergo a reversible change in conformation upon oxidation and reduction opens potential applications for this class of derivatives as molecular switches and actuators.

Double Heterohelicenes Composed of Benzo[b]- and Dibenzo[b,i]phenoxazine: A Comprehensive Comparison of Their Electronic and Chiroptical Properties

Heterohelicenes are potential materials in molecular electronics and optics because of their inherent chirality and various electronic properties originating from the introduced heteroatoms. In this work, we comprehensively investigated two kinds of double NO-hetero[5]helicenes composed of 12H-benzo[b]phenoxazine (BPO) and 13H-dibenzo[b,i]phenoxazine (DBPO). These helicenes exhibit good electron-donor properties reflecting the electron-rich character of their monomers and were demonstrated to work as p-type semiconductors. The enantiomers of these helicenes show the largest class of dissymmetry factors for circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) (|g_CPL| > 10^-2) among helicenes reported to date. Interestingly, the signs of CPL are opposite for BPO and DBPO double helicenes of the same helicity. The origin of the large g_CPL values and the inversion of the CPL sign was addressed by analysis of the transition electronic dipole moments and transition magnetic dipole moments based on TD-DFT calculations.