Synthesis of Novel Phosphaalkene-Based Bidentate Ligands Mes*PCH(3-R-Ar) (R = Pyridyl, Carbaldimino) and Formation of Three-Membered Palladacycles Mes*(Me)P−CH(3-R-Ar)−PdCl by Carbapalladation of the PC Double Bond

Twisted Carbazole Dendrons for Solution-Processable Green Emissive Phosphorescent Dendrimers

A family of first-generation dendrimers containing 3,5-bis(carbazolyl)phenyl dendrons attached to a green emissive fac-tris(2-phenylpyridyl)iridium(III) core were prepared. The solubility of the dendrimers was imparted by the attachment of tert-butyl surface groups to the carbazole moieties. The dendrimers differed in the number of dendrons attached to each ligand (one or two dendrons) as well as the degree of rotational restriction within the dendrons. The densities of the films containing the doubly dendronized materials were higher than those of their mono-dendronized counterparts, with the dendrimer containing two rotationally constrained dendrons per ligand having the highest density at 1.12 ± 0.04 g cm^-3. The dendrimers were found to have high photoluminescence quantum yields (PLQYs) in solution of between 80 and 90%, with the doubly dendronized materials having the lower values and a red-shifted emission. The neat film PLQY values of the dendrimers were less than those measured in solution although the relative decrease was smaller for the doubly dendronized materials. The dendrimers were incorporated into solution-processed bilayer organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) composed of neat or blend emissive layers and an electron transport layer. The best-performing devices had the dendrimers blended with a host material and external quantum efficiencies as high as 14.0%, which is higher than previously reported results for carbazole-incorporating emissive dendrimers. A feature of the devices containing blends of the doubly dendronized materials was that the maximum efficiency was relatively insensitive to the concentration in the host between 1 and 7 mol %.

P,N-type phosphaalkene-based Ir(i) complexes: synthesis, coordination chemistry, and catalytic applications

Iridium P,N phosphaalkene complexes show a rich coordination chemistry with unusual twofold C–H activation. The Ir(i) chloride complex can be applied for C–N coupling and alcohol upgrading reactions.

Chemical- and light-induced isomerization of the P=C bond of a 1-phosphabutadiene

Treatment of Mes*P=C(Si(CH3)3)Br with CH2=CHMgBr in the presence of Pd(0) affords 1-phosphabutadiene Mes*P=C(Si(CH3)3)–CH=CH2 (1) selectively as the Z isomer. Remarkably, treatment of Z-1 with n-BuLi (0.1 equiv.) resulted in quantitative formation of E-1. The exact role of the n-BuLi is unknown; however, it appears to be required to promote the isomerization in the absence of light. The isomerization of Z-1 to E-1 was also mediated by sunlight with the reaction mixture consisting of a ca. 1:9 ratio of Z-1 to E-1. DFT calculations were consistent with the thermodynamic favorability of the isomerization of Z-1 to E-1.

E-Selective Synthesis and Coordination Chemistry of Pyridine-Phosphaalkenes: Five Ligands Produce Four Distinct Types of Ru(II) Complexes

Pyridine-phosphaalkene (PN) ligands 2a-e were prepared in an E-selective fashion using phospha-Wittig methodology. Treatment of these five ligands, varying only in their 6-substituent with RuCl₂(PPh₃)₃, produced four distinct types of coordination complexes: pyridine-phosphaalkene-derived 3b,d, cyclized 4e, and six-coordinate 5a and 6c. Prolonged heating of 3b,d in THF resulted in C-H activation of the Mes* group and cyclization to give 4b,d featuring a bidentate pyridine-phospholane ligand bound to the metal center. Complex 5a, also possessing a newly formed phospholane ring, contained a different spatial arrangement of donors to Ru(II) with an agostic Ru-H-C interaction serving as the sixth donor to the transition metal center. Ligands 2b,d,e and Ru(II) complexes 3b, 4b,e and 5a were all characterized by X-ray crystallography. Six-coordinate 6c featured a structure similar to 4b,d,e, but with the CF₃ substituent acting as a weakly bound sixth ligand to the Ru(II) center, as observed by ³¹P{¹H} and¹⁹F NMR spectroscopy. The calculated structure of 6c established that the closest Ru- - -F contact was at 2.978 Å.

Ordered Arrays of Organometallic Iridium Complexes with Long Alkyl Chains on Graphite

Iridium(III) fac-tris(2-phenylpyridine) fac-[Ir(ppy)3] complexes equipped with long alkyl chains were prepared to examine their capability to form organized arrays on the surface of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG). The molecules form lamellar arrays at the 1-phenyloctane/HOPG interface. From the analysis of the STM images, it was concluded that the molecules align with alkyl chains being interdigitated. Similar lamellar arrays were also obtained at the air/HOPG interface upon drop-casting of toluene solutions. The lamellar structure at the molecular level leads to rectangular two-dimensional crystalline domains a few hundred nanometers long (nanoslips). Infrared external reflection spectroscopy suggested that the adsorbed alkyl chains adopt the trans-zigzag conformation in the nanoslip, although the orientations of the zigzag plane of the alkyl groups are mixed. Cyclic voltammetry indicates fast electron transfer between the adsorbed molecules and the substrate and significant intermolecular electronic interactions. It was found that annealing at high temperatures is an effective method to prepare ordered assemblies more than a few micrometer scale (microslips). The orientations of the nanoslips prepared from the racemic mixture exhibited an apparent 12-fold symmetry, while its optically active enantiomer resulted in more irregular domains with a six-fold symmetry, implying an important role of chirality on packing at the molecular level and on the orientation of the domains at larger scales. When drop-cast from more concentrated solutions than a few hundreds of micromolar, multilayers were obtained, in which the alkyl chains in the molecules are more or less perpendicular to the surface. This structure can be transformed into the nanoslips upon standing.

Photochemical E−Z Isomerization of meta-Terphenyl-Protected Phosphaalkenes and Structural Characterizations

A series of phosphaalkenes, E-ArP=C(H)Ar' (Ar = 2,6-Mes2C6H3, Ar' = Ph (1a); Ar = 2,6-Mes2C6H3, Ar' = p-C6H4Br (2a); Ar = 4-Br-2,6-Mes2C6H2, Ar' = Ph (3a); Ar = 4-Br-2,6-Mes2C6H2, Ar' = p-C6H4Br (4a)) have been prepared by phospha-Wittig reactions and characterized. Exposure of these materials either to room light over an extended period of time (days) or to UV light (hours) produced equilibrium mixtures of the E and Z isomers (1b-4b) as indicated by 1H and 31P NMR spectroscopy. The structures of compounds 4a and 4b were determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction methods. Variable-temperature (1)H NMR studies of 4b indicate hindered rotation about the P-CAr bond, with DeltaH(double dagger) = 13.8 kcal/mol and DeltaS(double dagger) = 1.3 eu. The electronic structures of E- and Z-PhP=C(H)Ph have been examined using density functional theory.

Synthesis and Deprotonation of 2-(Halophenyl)pyridines and 1-(Halophenyl)isoquinolines

The ability of the 2-pyridyl and 1-isoquinolyl groups to direct metalation was studied in the benzene series. For this purpose, 2-(halophenyl)pyridines and 1-(halophenyl)isoquinolines were prepared. Interestingly, nucleophilic addition reactions on the azine ring were not observed under kinetic control using butyllithium, and the substrates were cleanly deprotonated on the benzene ring: the azine ring acidifies the adjacent hydrogen H2' (N-H2' interaction through space and/or inductive electron-withdrawing effect) and probably favors the approach of butyllithium (chelation). Under thermodynamic conditions using lithium dialkylamides, the presence of the azine group makes the lithio derivative at C2' more stable (chelation and/or inductive electron-withdrawing effect). This was evidenced in two ways: (1) syntheses of 2-halophenyllithiums (F, Cl, Br) substituted at C6 by a 2-pyridyl or 1-isoquinolyl group without elimination of lithium halide and (2) iodine migration from C2' to C4' when treating 2-(3-halo-2-iodophenyl)pyridines or 1-(3-fluoro-2-iodophenyl)isoquinoline with LTMP. Comparisons between the 2-pyridyl and fluoro units showed the latter was the stronger directing group for deprotonation.