Naphthalene diimides: perspectives and promise

In this review, we describe the developments in the field of naphthalene diimides (NDIs) from 2016 to the presentday. NDIs are shown to be an increasingly interesting class of molecules due to their electronic properties, large electron deficient aromatic cores and tendency to self-assemble into functional structures. Almost all NDIs possess high electron affinity, good charge carrier mobility, and excellent thermal and oxidative stability, making them promising candidates for applications in organic electronics, photovoltaic devices, and flexible displays. NDIs have also been extensively studied due to their potential real-world uses across a wide variety of applications including supramolecular chemistry, sensing, host-guest complexes for molecular switching devices, such as catenanes and rotaxanes, ion-channels, catalysis, and medicine and as non-fullerene accepters in solar cells. In recent years, NDI research with respect to supramolecular assemblies and mechanoluminescent properties has also gained considerable traction. Thus, this review will assist a wide range of readers and researchers including chemists, physicists, biologists, medicinal chemists and materials scientists in understanding the scope for development and applicability of NDI dyes in their respective fields through a discussion of the main properties of NDI derivatives and of the status of emerging applications.

Preliminary chemical reduction for synthesizing a stable porous molecular conductor with neutral metal nodes

Preliminary chemical reduction of naphthalenediimide (NDI)-based organic ligands was applied to the synthesis of a porous molecular conductor (PMC) with neutral metal nodes (cobalt(ii) acetylacetonate). The obtained semiconductive PMC (PMC-2) was stable due to the neutral metal nodes, providing an advantage over electrochemical reduction.

Fluorescent supramolecular hierarchical self-assemblies from glycosylated 4-amino- and 4-bromo-1,8-naphthalimides

The investigation into the self-assembly formation of the glycan based 4-amino- and 4-bromo-1,8-naphthalimide (Nap) structures1–3is presented.

Supramolecular topology design of silver(i) and copper(ii) coordination polymers through a new semi-rigid sulfonyl ligand with different anion templates

A series of metal organic coordination polymers (MOCPs) of silver(i) and copper(ii) coordinated with a novel multifunctional semi-rigid sulfonyl ligand with different anion templates and oxidation states were designed for the first time. In addition, their atomically precise molecular structure was determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. In comparison, the topology of silver(i)-based MOCPs is affected significantly by different anion templates. The coordination modes are quite different with the anions varying: linear for ClO4-, trilateral for CO2CF3-, and tetrahedral for CO2C2F5-. Due to the difference of electron configurations between Ag(i) and Cu(ii), the coordinated configuration of the metal center is also different. While the coordinated configuration of Cu(ii) center tends to be placed in an octahedron. Furthermore, for the copper(ii) MOCPs, the oxidation state of the L ligand also plays an important role. When the N atoms in L were oxidized, the coordination mode of Cu(ii) became tetrahedral with Cu(ii) stuck on the bottom of the conventional octahedral mode. In general, it is an effective and controllable strategy to mediate the coordination mode and aggregation of supramolecular assembly-based MOCPs through the combination of a multifunctional organic ligand and its corresponding oxidation state design; elaborate metallic species and electron configuration selection; and suitable anion template introduction to generate multiform and hierarchical non-covalent bond interactions including π-π interactions and hydrogen bond formation that afford their coordination mode diversity.

Cd(ii) coordination polymers constructed from bis(pyridyl) ligands with an asymmetric spacer in chelating mode and diverse organic dicarboxylates: syntheses, structural evolutions and properties

Thirteen Cd(ii) complexes with diverse chain, (4,4), (6,3), (6³), (6⁵·8), 2-periodic (6,3) layers, and diverse 3D vma, irl, cds, eca nets have been synthesized.