Synthesis of Oxygenated Fused Oligothiophenes with HOF·CH3CN

Triphenylamine/4,4'-Dimethoxytriphenylamine-Functionalized Thieno[3,2-b]thiophene Fluorophores with a High Quantum Efficiency: Synthesis and Photophysical Properties

A wide series of 10 new triphenylamine (TPA)/4,4'-dimethoxytriphenylamine (TPA(OMe)₂)-functionalized thieno[3,2-b]thiophene (TT) fluorophores, 4a-e and 5a-e, bearing different electron-donating and electron-withdrawing substituents (-PhCN, -PhF, -PhOMe, -Ph, and -C₆H₁₃) at the terminal thienothiophene units were designed and synthesized by the Suzuki coupling reaction. Their optical and electrochemical properties were investigated by experimental and computational studies. Solid-state fluorescent quantum yields were recorded to be from 20 to 69%, and the maximum solution-state quantum efficiency reached 97%. Moreover, the photophysical characterization of the novel chromophores demonstrated a significant Stokes shift, reaching 179 nm with a bathochromic shift. They exhibited tuning color emission from orange to dark blue in solution and showed fluorescence lifetime reaching 4.70 ns. The relationship between triphenylamine (TPA)/4,4'-dimethoxytriphenylamine (TPA(OMe)₂)-derived triarylamines and different functional groups on thieno[3,2-b] thiophene units was discussed.

Poly(3-hexylthiophene) Nanoparticles Containing Thiophene-S,S-dioxide: Tuning of Dimensions, Optical and Redox Properties, and Charge Separation under Illumination

We describe the preparation of poly(3-hexylthiophene-S,S-dioxide) nanoparticles using Rozen's reagent, HOF·CH₃CN, either on poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) or on preformed P3HT nanoparticles (P3HT-NPs). In the latter case, core-shell nanoparticles (P3HT@PTDO-NPs) are formed, as confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements, indicating the presence of oxygen on the outer shell. The different preparation modalities lead to a fine-tuning of the chemical-physical properties of the nanoparticles. We show that absorption and photoluminescence features, electrochemical properties, size, and stability of colloidal solutions can be finely modulated by controlling the amount of oxygen present. Atomic force microscopy measurements on the nanoparticles obtained by a nanoprecipitation method from preoxidized P3HT (PTDO-NPs) display spherical morphology and dimensions down to 5 nm. Finally, Kelvin probe measurements show that the coexistence of p- and n-type charge carriers in all types of oxygenated nanoparticles makes them capable of generating and separating charge under illumination. Furthermore, in core-shell nanoparticles, the nanosegregation of the two materials, in different regions of the nanoparticles, allows a more efficient charge separation.

HOF·CH3CN: probably the best oxygen transfer agent organic chemistry has to offer

The complex HOF·CH3CN is readily obtained by bubbling dilute fluorine into aqueous acetonitrile solution. It does not have to be purified or isolated, and its solution can react as is, after the concentration has been establish by any iodometric method. It is the only reagent possessing a distinctive positive oxygen species. This enables electrophilic oxygen transfer with results no other reagent can match. HOF·CH3CN demonstrates its ability in epoxidations that either could not be performed before or could only obtained 5 orders of magnitude slower. This complex is also an excellent tool for oxygenation of compounds at the α position of a carbonyl, including the synthesis of some hard-to-come-by indanediones, which are important for fingerprint visualization on paper. HOF·CH3CN proves itself as a very efficient reagent for oxygenating tertiary nitrogen atoms both in aliphatic (including azides) and in aromatic amines, which could not be accomplished despite many attempts in the last 50 years. Oxygenation of two tertiary nitrogen atoms in the same molecule also becomes feasible as demonstrated for various phenanthrolines, bipyridines, diazafluorenones, and quinoxalines. It was also used to oxygenate primary amines, and because of the exceptionally mild conditions, it could transform vicinal aliphatic diamines to vicinal dinitro derivatives as well as amino acids to the corresponding nitro ones, practically unknown transformations before. Its ability to react with azines and hydrazones and convert them to the original carbonyls helped to establish these groups as good protecting tools for a variety of carbonyls. HOF·CH3CN excels in oxygenation of various sulfur and selenium compounds that could not be oxygenated in the past. The selectivity of the oxidation is quite good, and if there are alcohols, double bonds, and sulfides in the same molecule, usually the sulfur atom will be attacked first. Of special interest is the reaction with oligothiophenes resulting at will in either [all]-S,S-dioxooligothiophenes or in partially oxygenated ones. Some of these last derivatives have the narrowest HOMO-LUMO gap of all oligothiophenes tested, a very desirable feature. This reagent can also oxidize thiols or disulfides to either sulfonic or sulfinic acids at will, all in seconds and in very high yields. Since the oxygen atom of HOF·CH3CN originates in water, it is very easy and relatively inexpensive to introduce the heavy oxygen isotope in many sites of a variety of molecules, some of them quite important. The (18)O tirapazamine and any desirable alcohol, R(Ar)(18)OH, are two examples.

Dearomatization-induced transannular cyclization: synthesis of electron-accepting thiophene-S,S-dioxide-fused biphenylene

The transannular cyclization of dehydroannulenes bearing several alkyne moieties in close proximity is a powerful synthetic method for producing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. We report that the reactivity can be switched by the aromaticity of the ring skeletons fused with the dehydroannulene core. Thus, while thiophene-fused bisdehydro[12]annulene 1 was handled as a stable compound in the air at room temperature, the oxidation with m-chloroperbenzoic acid from the aromatic thiophene rings to the nonaromatic thiophene-S,S-dioxides induced the transannular cyclization, even at room temperature, which was completed within 1 day to produce the formal [2 + 2] cycloadduct 3. This is in stark contrast to the fact that the thermal cyclization of 1 itself required heating at 80 °C for 9 days for completion. Experimental and theoretical studies indicate that the oxidation of even one thiophene ring in 1 sufficiently decreases the activation barrier for the transannular cyclization that proceeds through the 8π and 4π electrocyclic reaction sequence. The thiophene-S,S-dioxide-fused biphenylene 3 thus produced exhibits a set of intriguing properties, such as a higher electron affinity (E1/2 = -1.17 V vs Fc and Fc(+)) and a stronger fluorescence (ΦF = 0.20) than the other relevant biphenylene derivatives, which have electron-donating and nonfluorescent characteristics.

Synthesis of thiophene 1,1-dioxides and tuning their optoelectronic properties

A 2,5-bis(tributylstannyl)thiophene 1,1-dioxide was prepared from 2,5-bis(trimethylsilyl)thiophene 1,1-dioxide, bis(tributyltin) oxide, and tetrabutylammonium fluoride (TBAF). The 2,5-bis(tributylstannyl)thiophene 1,1-dioxide and a 2,5-diiodothiophene 1,1-dioxide were utilized in a series of Stille cross-coupling reactions to afford thiophene 1,1-dioxides with either electron-donating or electron-withdrawing substituents. Electron-withdrawing groups greatly facilitate the reduction of these sulfone heterocycles, and -C6H4-p-NO2 substituents produce a 510 mV shift as compared to a thiophene 1,1-dioxide with two phenyl groups.