State of the Art in the Preparation and Properties of Molecular Monomeric s-Heptazines: Syntheses, Characteristics, and Functional Applications

This review gives an account on the fast expanding field of monomeric (or molecular) heptazines, at the exclusion of their various polymeric forms, often referred to as carbon nitrides. While examples of monomeric heptazines were extremely limited until the beginning of this century, the field has started expanding quickly since then, as has the number of reports on polymeric materials, though previous reviews did not separate these fields. We provide here a detailed report on the synthetic procedures for molecular heptazines. We also extensively report on the different achievements realized from these new molecules, in the fields of physical chemistry, spectroscopy, materials preparation, (photo)catalysis, and devices. After a comprehensive summary and discussion on heptazines syntheses and characteristics, we show that starting from well-defined molecules allows a versatility of approaches and a wide tunability of the expected properties. It comes out that the field of monomeric heptazines is now emerging and possibly heading toward maturity, while diverging from the one of polymeric carbon nitrides. It is likely that this area of research will quickly surge to the forefront of the search for active organic molecules, with special attention to the domains of catalysis and organic-based functional materials and devices.

Tri-s-triazine (s-heptazine), a novel electron-deficient core for soft self-assembled supramolecular structures

Self-assembled supramolecular structures formed by disc-shaped molecules, commonly known as discotic liquid crystals (DLCs), have attracted tremendous interest during the past decade due to their potential applications in wide-viewing liquid crystal displays, sensors, photovoltaic solar cells, light emitting diodes, thin film transistors, etc. Since the discovery, only about sixty different core molecules have been explored to prepare about 3500 DLCs. We have realised a new heterocyclic aromatic molecular motif, s-heptazine, which functions as a core fragment for the synthesis of discotic liquid crystals on appropriate functionalization.

Rational design of carbon nitride photocatalysts by identification of cyanamide defects as catalytically relevant sites

The heptazine-based polymer melon (also known as graphitic carbon nitride, g-C₃N₄) is a promising photocatalyst for hydrogen evolution. Nonetheless, attempts to improve its inherently low activity are rarely based on rational approaches because of a lack of fundamental understanding of its mechanistic operation. Here we employ molecular heptazine-based model catalysts to identify the cyanamide moiety as a photocatalytically relevant ‘defect'. We exploit this knowledge for the rational design of a carbon nitride polymer populated with cyanamide groups, yielding a material with 12 and 16 times the hydrogen evolution rate and apparent quantum efficiency (400 nm), respectively, compared with the unmodified melon. Computational modelling and material characterization suggest that this moiety improves coordination (and, in turn, charge transfer kinetics) to the platinum co-catalyst and enhances the separation of the photogenerated charge carriers. The demonstrated knowledge transfer for rational catalyst design presented here provides the conceptual framework for engineering high-performance heptazine-based photocatalysts.

Graphitic carbon nitride is a promising hydrogen evolution photocatalyst, although there is limited understanding of its mechanistic operation. Here, the authors employ molecular heptazine-based model catalysts to identify catalytically relevant defects and to rationally design a highly active carbon nitride photocatalyst.

Heptazine-Based Porous Framework for Selective CO2 Sorption and Organocatalytic Performances

A new heptazine-based polymer network (Cy-pip) with highly rich nitrogen sites has been synthesized via catalyst-free direct coupling of cyameluric chloride (Cy) and piperazine (Pip). Cy-pip exhibits large CO2 uptake capacity (103.4 mg/g, 9.4 wt %, 1 bar/273 K) with high selectivity (117) toward CO2 over N2. Furthermore, this framework with high Lewis basic nitrogen sites has also been exploited as heterogeneous catalyst for Knoevenagel reaction of aromatic and heterocyclic aldehydes with active methylene compounds. Moreover, the catalyst can recycle up to four times with only a minor loss of activity.

s-Heptazine oligomers: promising structural models for graphitic carbon nitride

In this study, linear s-heptazine oligomers were synthesized to serve as well-defined molecular models for g-CN..

Graphitic carbon nitride (g-CN) has interesting catalytic properties but is difficult to study due to its structure and how it is produced. In this study, linear s-heptazine oligomers were synthesized to serve as well-defined molecular models for g-CN. Cyclic voltammetry, absorption and emission spectroscopies showed a clear shift of properties towards those of g-CN as the number of heptazine units increased. DFT calculations supported the characterizations, and helped refine the properties observed.

5,8-Bis[bis-(pyridin-2-yl)amino]-1,3,4,6,7,9,9b-hepta-aza-phenalen-2(1H)-one dimethyl sulfoxide monosolvate dihydrate

In the asymmetric unit of the title compound, C₂₆H₁₇N₁₃O·C₂H₆OS·2H₂O, there is one independent hepta­zine-based main mol­ecule, one dimethyl sulfoxide mol­ecule and two water mol­ecules as solvents. The tri-s-triazine unit is substituted with two dipyridyl amine moieties and a carbonylic O atom. As indicated by the bond lengths in this acid unit of the hepta­zine derivative [C=O = 1.213 (2) Å, while the adjacent C—N(H) bond = 1.405 (2) Å] it is best described by the keto form. The cyameluric nucleus is close to planar (r.m.s. deviation = 0.061 Å) and the pyridine rings are inclined to its mean plane by dihedral angles varying from 47.47 (5) to 70.22 (5)°. The host and guest mol­ecules are connected via N—H⋯O, O—H⋯O and O—H⋯N hydrogen bonds, forming a four-membered inversion dimer-like arrangement enclosing an R₄⁴(24) ring motif. These arrangements stack along [1-10] with a weak π–π inter­action [inter-centroid distance = 3.8721 (12) Å] involving adjacent pyridine rings. There are also C—H⋯N and C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds and C—H⋯π inter­actions present within the host mol­ecule and linking inversion-related mol­ecules, forming a three-dimensional structure.

Formation of a hydrogen-bonded heptazine framework by self-assembly of melem into a hexagonal channel structure

Self-assembly of melem C(6)N(7)(NH(2))(3) in hot aqueous solution leads to the formation of hydrogen-bonded, hexagonal rosettes of melem units surrounding infinite channels with a diameter of 8.9 Å. The channels are filled with strongly disordered water molecules, which are bound to the melem network through hydrogen bonds. Single-crystals of melem hydrate C(6)N(7)(NH(2))(3)⋅xH(2)O (x≈2.3) were obtained by hydrothermal treatment of melem at 200 °C and the crystal structure (R ̅3c, a=2879.0(4), c=664.01(13) pm, V=4766.4(13)×10(6) pm(3), Z=18) was elucidated by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. With respect to the structural similarity to the well-known adduct between melamine and cyanuric acid, the composition of the obtained product was further analyzed by solid-state NMR spectroscopy. Hydrolysis of melem to cyameluric acid during syntheses at elevated temperatures could thus be ruled out. DTA/TG studies revealed that, during heating of melem hydrate, water molecules can be removed from the channels of the structure to a large extent. The solvent-free framework is stable up to 430 °C without transforming into the denser structure of anhydrous melem. Dehydrated melem hydrate was further characterized by solid-state NMR spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffraction, and sorption measurements to investigate structural changes induced by the removal of water from the channels. During dehydration, the hexagonal, layered arrangement of melem units is maintained whereas the formation of additional hydrogen bonds between melem entities requires the stacking mode of hexagonal layers to be altered. It is assumed that layers are shifted perpendicular to the direction of the channels, thereby making them inaccessible for guest molecules.