Photophysical and redox properties of new donor-acceptor-donor (DAD) compounds containing benzothiadiazole (A) and dimethyldihydroacridine (D) units: a combined experimental and theoretical study

Four donor-acceptor-donor compounds consisting of 9,9-dimethyl-9,10-dihydroacridine donors differently linked to a benzothiadiazole acceptor were designed using DFT calculations and synthesized, namely 4,7-bis(4-(9,9-dimethyl-9,10-dihydroacridine)phenyl)benzo[c][1,2,5]thiadiazole (1), 4,7-bis(2,5-dimethyl-4-(9,9-dimethyl-9,10-dihydroacridine)phenyl)benzo[c][1,2,5]thiadiazole (2), 4,7-bis(3,5-di(9,9-dimethyl-9,10-dihydroacridine)phenyl)benzo[c][1,2,5]thiadiazole (3), and 4-(3,5-di(9,9-dimethyl-9,10-dihydroacridine)phenyl)-7-(thiophen-2-yl)benzo[c][1,2,5]thiadiazole (4). As predicted theoretically, all studied compounds were electrochemically active both in the reduction as well as in the oxidation modes. They underwent one electron quasi-reversible reduction. Oxidation of 1 and 2 involved a two electron process transforming them into dications and carrying out, in parallel, their dimerization. Oxidation of 3 and 4 resulted in their oligomerization (polymerization). The electrochemically determined ionisation potentials (IP) of 1-4 were similar, covering a narrow range of 5.28-5.33 eV and were consistent with DFT calculations. Larger differences were found for experimentally determined electron affinity (EA) values, being significantly lower for 2 (|EA| = 2.59 eV) as compared to 1, 3 and 4 whose |EA| values were higher by 0.15-0.25 eV, again consistent with DFT calculations. DFT calculations predict positive values of ΔE(S1-T1) for all compounds i.e. in the range of 0.18 eV to 0.43 eV for 1, 3 and 4 and a significantly lower value for 2 (0.06 eV), indicating a possible RISC process in this case. DFT calculations of ΔE(S1-T2) lead to negative and very small values for 2-4 implying a possible involvement of higher lying triplets in the generation of singlet excitons. The investigated derivatives exhibited fluorescence in the orange-red spectral range (550-770 nm) and were strongly dependent on the solvent polarity. The highest PLQY value of 37% was measured for 1 in toluene. The PLQY values significantly improved upon deoxygenation of the studied solutions. Solid state samples also exhibited higher PLQY values as compared to those determined for DCM solutions. These findings were rationalized by partial suppression of the vibrationally induced emission quenching in the solid state due to the intermolecular interaction confinement.

Effect of donor to acceptor ratio on electrochemical and spectroscopic properties of oligoalkylthiophene 1,3,4-oxadiazole derivatives

A structure-property study across a series of donor-acceptor-donor structures composed of mono- and bi-(1,3,4-oxadiazole) units symmetrically substituted with alkyl functionalized bi-, ter- and quaterthiophene segments is presented. Synthetically tailoring the ratio of electron-withdrawing 1,3,4-oxadiazole to electron-releasing thiophene units and their alkyl grafting pattern permitted us to scrutinize the impact of these structural factors on the redox, absorptive and emissive properties of these push-pull molecules. Contrasting trends of redox potentials were observed, with the oxidation potential closely following the donor-to-acceptor ratio, whereas the reduction potential being tuned independently by either the number of acceptor units or the conjugation length of the donor-acceptor system. Increasing the thiophene unit contribution delivered a shift from blue to green luminescence, while the structural rigidity afforded by intramolecular non-covalent interactions between 1,3,4-oxadiazole and the thiophene moieties has been identified as the prime factor determining the emission efficiency of these molecules. All six structures investigated electro-polymerize easily, yielding electroactive and electrochromic polymers. The polymer doping process is largely influenced by the length of the oligothiophene repeating unit and the alkyl chain grafting density. Polymers with relatively short oligothiophene segments are able to support polarons and polaron-pairs, whereas those with segments longer than six thiophene units could also stabilize diamagnetic charge carries - bipolarons. Increasing the alkyl chain grafting density improved the reversibility and broadened the working potential window of the p-doping process. Stable radical anions have also been investigated, bringing detailed information about the conjugation pattern of these electron-surplus species. This study delivers interesting clues towards the conscious structural design of bespoke frontier energy level oligothiophene functional materials and their polymers by incorporating a structurally matching 1,3,4-oxadiazole unit.

Synthesis and optical properties of new 5'-aryl-substituted 2,5-bis(3-decyl-2,2'-bithiophen-5-yl)-1,3,4-oxadiazoles

New photoluminescent donor–acceptor–donor (DAD) molecules, namely 5'-aryl-substituted 2,5-bis(3-decyl-2,2'-bithiophen-5-yl)-1,3,4-oxadiazoles were prepared by palladium-catalyzed coupling from readily available compounds such as ethyl 3-decyl-2,2'-bithiophene-5-carboxylate and aryl halides. The obtained compounds feature increasing bathochromic shifts in their emission spectra with increasing aryl-substituent size yielding blue to bluish-green emissions. At the same time, their absorption spectra are almost independent from the identity of the terminal substituent with λ_max values ranging from 395 to 405 nm. The observed trends are perfectly predicted by quantum chemical DFT/TDDFT calculations carried out for these new molecules.

Synthesis of new, highly luminescent bis(2,2'-bithiophen-5-yl) substituted 1,3,4-oxadiazole, 1,3,4-thiadiazole and 1,2,4-triazole

A new synthetic approach towards the preparation of functionalised, soluble, donor–acceptor (DA) alkylbithiophene derivatives of oxadiazole, thiadiazole and triazole is reported. Taking advantage of the Fiesselmann reaction, reactive bithiophene synthons having alkyl or alkoxy substituents at designated positions are prepared. Following a synthetic strategy, featuring the bottom-up approach, sequential structural elements are built, starting from a simple thiophene compound, until the target molecule is obtained, all in good yield. Supplementing the well established methods of oxadiazole and thiadiazole synthesis, efficient ring closure reaction affording a 4H-1,2,4-triazole unit is presented. All target ambipolar compounds display strong photoluminescence with measured quantum yields up to 0.59. Modification of the demonstrated synthetic routes may be exploited for the preparation of longer, specifically functionalised oligothiophenes, coupled to other heteroaromatic cores.

Theoretical Investigation of the Tunable Behavior of p−n Copolymers Based on Oligothiophenes and 1,4-Bis(oxadiazolyl)-benzene

Semiempirical calculations were carried out on several model oligomers to investigate the tunable behavior of p-n copolymers with the repeating units constructed by oligothiophenes as the pi-excessive type blocks and 1,4-bis(oxadiazolyl) benzene as the pi-deficient type block. The calculated evolutions of the HOMO and LUMO of the model oligomers were in good agreement with the experimental oxidation and reduction potentials of the corresponding polymers. The effect of the length of the oligothiophene on the electronic structures and optical properties was elucidated by analyzing the HOMO and LUMO spatial distribution patterns of the model oligomers. When the number of thiophene rings increases, the HOMO and LUMO are contributed mostly from the oligothiophene segments and either the introduced single positive or negative charge focuses on the oligothiophene segments. The absorption spectra of polymers were also simulated by performing calculations on the corresponding oligomers. Good matches were observed between the calculated absorption spectra and the experimental UV-vis spectra of the corresponding polymers. The study shows that the backbone modification of the p-n copolymer, that is, changing the number of thiophene unit in the p-n diblock copolymer, greatly modifies the optical properties of the polymer.

Unusually high stability of a poly(alkylquaterthiophene-alt-oxadiazole) conjugated copolymer in its n and p-doped states

Incorporation of electron accepting units (oxadiazole) into the 2,5-thienylene conjugated chain leads to a significant improvement in the n-doping-undoping redox stability of the resulting polymer.