Click Chemistry Derived Pyridazines: Electron-Deficient Building Blocks with Defined Conformation and Packing Structure

A series of 3,6-bis(4-triazolyl)pyridazines equipped with terminal phenyl substituents with varying degree of fluorination were synthesized by using the facile copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition and their structures were thoroughly investigated in the gas phase, in solution, and in the solid state by employing DFT calculations, NMR spectroscopy, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction, respectively. On the molecular level, their structure is governed by the strong preference of the triazole-pyridazine linkages for the anti-conformation. The supramolecular organization of the molecules in the crystalline solid is controlled by π-stacking, C-H⋅⋅⋅π as well as C-F⋅⋅⋅H interactions. The latter can conveniently be tuned by the number and position of fluorine substituents in the terminal phenyl units, giving rise to either herringbone-like, 1D or 2D lamellar packing. Electrochemistry and optical spectroscopy of all compounds suggest that they might find use as electron-transporting/hole-blocking materials in organic electronics.