Design and Synthesis of Kekulè and Non-Kekulè Diradicaloids via the Radical Periannulation Strategy: The Power of Seven Clar's Sextets

Near-infrared luminescent open-shell π-conjugated systems with a bright lowest-energy zwitterionic singlet excited state

Open-shell systems with extensive π-conjugation have fascinating properties due to their narrow bandgaps and spin interactions. In this work, we report neutral open-shell di- and polyradical conjugated materials exhibiting intriguing optical and magnetic properties. Our key design advance is the planarized geometry allowing for greater interaction between adjacent spins. This results in absorption and emission in the near infrared at 803 and 1050 nanometers, respectively, and we demonstrate a unique electronic structure where a bright zwitterionic excited state is the lowest-accessible electronic transition. Electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy and superconducting quantum interference device measurements reveal that our materials are open-shell singlets with different degrees of spin interactions, dynamics, and antiferromagnetic properties, which likely contributed to the formation of their emissive zwitterionic singlet excited state and near-infrared emission. In addition, our materials show reversible and stable electrochromic switching with more than 500 cycles, indicating their potential for optoelectronic and electrochemical energy storage applications.

A Stable Chichibabin Diradicaloid with Near-Infrared Emission

Conjugated molecules with multiple radical centers such as the iconic Chichibabin diradicaloid hold promise as building blocks in materials for quantum sensing and quantum information processing. However, it is a considerable challenge to design simple analogues of the Chichibabin hydrocarbon that are chemically inert, exhibit high diradical character and emit light at a distinct wavelength that may offer an optical readout of the spin state in functional ensembles. Here we describe the serendipitous discovery of the stable TTM-TTM diradicaloid, which exhibits high diradical character, a striking sky-blue color and near-infrared (NIR) emission (in solution). This combination of properties is unique among related diradicaloids and is due to the presence of hydrogen and chlorine atoms in "just the right positions", allowing a perfectly planar, yet predominantly benzenoid bridge to connect the two sterically stabilized radical centers. In-depth studies of the optical and magnetic properties suggest that this structural motif could become a mainstay building block of organic spin materials.

On Entangled Singlet Pure Diradicals

This work addresses a class of conjugated hydrocarbons that are expected to be singlet diradicals according to the topological Hückel Hamiltonian while possibly satisfying full on-bond electron pairing. These systems possess two degenerate singly occupied molecular orbitals (SOMOs), but aromaticity brought by properly positioned six-membered rings does prevent Jahn-Teller distortions. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations performed on two emblematic examples confirm the strong bond-length alternation in the closed-shell solutions and the clear spatial symmetry in the open-shell spin-unrestricted determinants, the latter solution always being found to have significantly lower energy. Since the SOMOs are here of different symmetry, the wave function is free from ionic valence-bond component, and spin decontamination of the unrestricted DFT solutions and wave function calculations at the CASSCF-plus-second-order-perturbation level confirm the expected pure diradical character of such molecules. In contrast to disjoint diradicals, the SOMOs of present systems have large amplitudes on neighbor atoms, and we propose to name them entangled pure diradicals, further providing some prescription rules for their design. Additional calculations point out the qualitative contrast between these molecules and the related diradicaloids.

Size Isn't Everything: Geometric Tuning in Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Its Implications for Carbon Nanodots

Recent developments in light-emitting carbon nanodots and molecular organic semiconductors have seen renewed interest in the properties of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) as a family. The networks of delocalized π electrons in sp2-hybridized carbon grant PAHs light-emissive properties right across the visible spectrum. However, the mechanistic understanding of their emission energy has been limited due to the ground state-focused methods of determination. This computational chemistry work, therefore, seeks to validate existing rules and elucidate new features and characteristics of PAHs that influence their emissions. Predictions based on (time-dependent) density functional theory account for the full 3-dimensional electronic structure of ground and excited states and reveal that twisting and near-degeneracies strongly influence emission spectra and may therefore be used to tune the color of PAHs and, hence, carbon nanodots. We particularly note that the influence of twisting goes beyond torsional destabilization of the ground-state and geometric relaxation of the excited state, with a third contribution associated with the electric transition dipole. Symmetries and peri-condensation may also have an effect, but this could not be statistically confirmed. In pursuing this goal, we demonstrate that with minimal changes to molecular size, the entire visible spectrum may be spanned by geometric modification alone; we have also provided a first estimate of emission energy for 35 molecules currently lacking published emission spectra as well as clear guidelines for when more sophisticated computational techniques are required to predict the properties of PAHs accurately.

bay/ortho-Octa-substituted Perylene: A Versatile Building Block toward Novel Polycyclic (Hetero)Aromatic Hydrocarbons

ConspectusPolycyclic (hetero)aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have emerged as a focal point in current interdisciplinary research, spanning the realms of chemistry, physics, and materials science. Possessing distinctive optical, electronic, and magnetic properties, these π-functional materials exhibit significant potential across diverse applications, including molecular electronic devices, organic spintronics, and biomedical functions, among others. Despite the extensive documentation of various PAHs over the decades, the efficient and precise synthesis of π-extended PAHs remains a formidable challenge, hindering their broader application. This challenge is primarily attributed to the intricate and often elusive nature of their synthesis, compounded by issues related to low solubility and unfavored stability.The development of π-building blocks that can be facilely and modularly transformed into diverse π-frameworks constitutes a potent strategy for the creation of novel PAH materials. For instance, based on the classic perylene diimide (PDI) unit, researchers such as Würthner, Wang, and Nuckolls have successfully synthesized a plethora of structurally diverse PAHs, as well as numerous other π-functional materials. However, until now the availability of such versatile building blocks is still severely limited, especially for those simultaneously having a facile preparation process, adequate solubilizing groups, favored material stability, and critically, rich possibilities for structural extension spaces.In this Account, we present an overview of our invention of a highly versatile bay-/ortho-octa-substituted perylene building block, designated as Per-4Br, for the construction of a series of novel PAH scaffolds with tailor-made structures and rich optoelectronic and magnetic properties. First, starting with a brief discussion of current challenges associated with the bottom-up synthesis of π-extended PAHs, we rationalize the key features of Per-4Br that enable facile access to new PAH molecules including its ease of large-scale preparation, favored material stability and solubility, and multiple flexible reaction sites, with a comparison to the PDI motif. Then, we showcase our rational design and sophisticated synthesis of a body of neutral or charged, closed- or open-shell, curved, or planar PAHs via controlled annulative π-extensions in different directions such as peripheral, diagonal, or multiple dimensions of the Per-4Br skeleton. In this part, the fundamental structure-property relationships between molecular conformations, electronic structures, and self-assembly behaviors of these PAHs and their unique physiochemical properties such as unusual open-shell ground states, global aromaticity, state-associated/stimuli-responsive magnetic activity, and charge transport characteristics will be emphatically elaborated. Finally, we offer our perspective on the continued advancement of π-functional materials based on Per-4Br, which, we posit, may stimulate heightened research interest in the versatile structural motifs typified by Per-4Br, consequently catalyzing further progress in the realm of organic π-functional materials.

Tethering Three Radical Cascades for Controlled Termination of Radical Alkyne peri-Annulations: Making Phenalenyl Ketones without Oxidants

Although Bu3Sn-mediated radical alkyne peri-annulations allow access to phenalenyl ring systems, the oxidative termination of these cascades provides only a limited selection of the possible isomeric phenalenone products with product selectivity controlled by the intrinsic properties of the new cyclic systems. In this work, we report an oxidant-free termination strategy that can overcome this limitation and enable selective access to the full set of isomerically functionalized phenalenones. The key to preferential termination is the preinstallation of a "weak link" that undergoes C-O fragmentation in the final cascade step. Breaking a C-O bond is assisted by entropy, gain of conjugation in the product, and release of stabilized radical fragments. This strategy is expanded to radical exo-dig cyclization cascades of oligoalkynes, which provide access to isomeric π-extended phenalenones. Conveniently, these cascades introduce functionalities (i.e., Bu3Sn and iodide moieties) amenable to further cross-coupling reactions. Consequently, a variety of polyaromatic diones, which could serve as phenalenyl-based open-shell precursors, can be synthesized.

Dihydrophenanthrene Open-Shell Singlet Diradicals and Their Roles in the Mallory Photocyclization Reaction

A computational study (ωB97X-D/6-31G(d)) of the Mallory photocyclization reaction has revealed that the well-established dihydrophenanthrene (DHP) intermediates can adopt either closed-shell (CS) or open-shell-diradical (OS) singlet ground states. A detailed study of the properties of DHPs allowed their classifications as OS, borderline-OS, borderline-CS, or CS intermediates. The triplet electronic state and higher energy CS* isomer of all the OS singlet diradicals were computationally located, and the expected relationship between the diradical index, yo, and the triplet energy and the OS-CS* energy gaps was established. The importance of aromaticity in stabilizing the OS singlet diradicals was confirmed by using the Harmonic Oscillator Model of Aromaticity (HOMA). The thermal decompositions of DHPs by cycloreversions to regenerate the Mallory starting materials were also studied. The cycloreversion mechanism was described as a homolytic cleavage characterized by an anchimeric assistance continuum promoted by bis-β-homolytic cleavage.

Bis-Olefin Based Crystalline Schlenk Hydrocarbon Diradicals with a Triplet Ground State

A modular approach for the synthesis of isolable crystalline Schlenk hydrocarbon diradicals from m-phenylene bridged electron-rich bis-triazaalkenes as synthons is reported. EPR spectroscopy confirms their diradical nature and triplet electronic structure by revealing a half-field signal. A computational analysis confirms the triplet state to be the ground state. As a proof-of-principle for the modular methodology, the 4,6-dimethyl-m-phenylene was further utilized as a coupling unit between two alkene motifs. The steric conjunction of the 4,6-dimethyl groups substantially twists the substituents at the nonbonding electron bearing centers relative to the central coupling m-phenylene motif. As a result, the spin delocalization is decreased and the exchange coupling between the two unpaired spins, hence, significantly reduced. Notably, 108 years after Schlenk's m-phenylene-bis(diphenylmethyl) synthesis as a diradical, for the first time we were able to isolate its derivative with the same spacer, i.e. m-phenylene, between two radical centers in a crystalline form.

Bis(9-Boraphenanthrene) and Its Stable Biradical

Selective and site-specific boron-doping of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon frameworks often give rise to redox and/or photophysical properties that are not easily accessible with the analogous all-carbon systems. Herein, we report ligand-mediated control of boraphenanthrene closed- and open-shell electronic states, which has led to the first structurally characterized examples of neutral bis(9-boraphenanthrene) (2-3) and its corresponding biradical (4). Notably, compounds 2 and 3 show intramolecular charge transfer absorption from the 9-boraphenanthrene units to p-quinodimethane, exhibiting dual (red-shifted) emission in solution due to excited state conjugation enhancement (ESCE). Moreover, while boron-centered monoradicals are ubiquitous, biradical 4 represents a rare type of open-shell singlet compound with 95% biradical character, among the highest of any reported boron-based polycyclic species with two radical sites.

Stable Diradical on the Dimethyldihydropyrene Scaffold

The diradical character in a molecular architecture can be customized primarily in two ways: first, by employing a quinoidal pro-aromatic system with net energy gained by aromatization that compensates for the energy required to generate the diradical species and, second, by employing an antiaromatic system having easily accessible triplet states that impart a diradical character. We have chosen a 14π aromatic framework, Boekelheide's dimethyldihydropyrene, and perturbed its aromaticity through the construction of its quinoidal form. The perturbed aromaticity was evident from the bond alteration in the X-ray diffraction structure, 1H nuclear magnetic resonance chemical shifts, and quantum chemical calculations. The aromaticity was restored as the system underwent a transition to the biradical structure centered on two exocyclic carbons. In addition, upon photoexcitation and without using an external reducing reagent, the diradical could be converted to a radical anion and dianion form easily when dimethylformamide was used as a solvent.