Annulation reactions of electrophilic benzannulated heterocycles towards heteroacenes

The current review describes different annulation strategies reported with electrophilic benzannulated heterocycles for accessing heteroacenes. For the past two decades, the chemistry of electrophilic benzannulated heterocycles was extensively investigated, and several dipolar cycloadditions, metal and organo-catalyzed transformations were introduced for the generation of fused heterocycles. In this review, we have collected all the reports where the annulation of electrophilic benzannulated heterocycles results in a fully aromatic system, viz. heteroacenes with tri-, tetra-, and pentacyclic rings. We reviewed every paper on the synthesis of fused heterocycles that was accessible and categorized the review into several parts based on the electrophilic benzannulated heterocycle used in the heteroacene synthesis such as electrophilic indole, electrophilic benzothiophene, and so forth. The generality and mechanistic postulates of each methodology are highlighted. In addition, we have also tried to feature the advantages or shortcomings of each method and have mentioned the possible applications of these methodologies for accessing heteroacenes for material applications.

Copper-Catalyzed Annulation of Electrophilic Benzannulated Heterocycles with 2-Aminopyridine and 2-Aminoquinoline: Direct Access toward Polyring-Fused Imidazo[1,2-a]pyridines

We have developed a direct method for the synthesis of polyring-fused imidazo[1,2-a]pyridines via a copper-catalyzed annulation of electrophilic benzannulated heterocycles with 2-aminopyridine and 2-aminoquinoline. From 3-nitroindoles and 2-aminopyridine, we could synthesize tetracenes, viz., indole-fused imidazo[1,2-a]pyridines, and by starting from 2-aminoquinoline, we could generate pentacenes, viz., indolo-imidazo[1,2-a]quinolines. In addition, we could also extend the methodology toward the synthesis of benzothieno-imidazo[1,2-a]pyridines starting from 3-nitrobenzothiophene. Furthermore, the basic photophysical properties of these synthesized heteroacenes were evaluated.

Inverse Electron Demand Diels Alder Reaction of Aza-o-Quinone Methides and Enaminones: Accessing 3-Aroyl Quinolines and Indeno[1,2-b]quinolinones

We have developed a Diels Alder cycloaddition route toward 3-aroyl quinolines from enaminones and in situ generated aza-o-quinone methides. The reaction was found to be general with a range of substituted enaminones and aza-o-quinone methides, and we could validate the applicability of the methodology in gram scale. We also demonstrated a one-pot strategy toward 3-acyl quinolines starting from the corresponding aliphatic ketones. Finally, we utilized the 3-aroyl quinolines for synthesizing indeno[1,2-b]quinolinones via a Pd-catalyzed dual C-H activation approach.

Understanding High Fluorescence Quantum Yield and Simultaneous Large Stokes Shift in Phenyl Bridged Donor-π-Acceptor Dyads with Varied Bridge Lengths in Polar Solvents

Photophysical properties of electron donor-π-acceptor (D-π-A) dyads for a given pair of D and A highly depend on the π-bridge type and length and also on the solvent polarity. In this work, first-principles calculations with optimally tuned range-separated hybrids are implemented to explore and understand the optical absorption and emission properties of recently synthesized novel D-π-A dyads with 1,2-diphenylphenanthroimidazole (PPI) as D and 1,2,4-triazolopyridine (TP) as A with varied phenyl π-bridge lengths (denoted as PPI-P_n-TP, n = 0-2 considered here) in solvents of different dielectrics. All three D-π-A dyads display almost an unaltered low-lying optical peak position and a red-shifted emission with increasing solvent polarity, corroborating well with the reported experimental observations. The observed emission shift was attributed to the stabilization of an intramolecular charge-transfer (ICT) state by the polar solvent. Contrastingly, our calculations reveal no ICT; rather the shift is essentially originated from the substantial excited-state relaxation involving primarily rotation of the PPI phenyl ring directly linked to the π-bridge, leading to an almost planarized emissive state. Further, the greater frontier molecular orbital delocalization-driven high fluorescence rate together with increased structural rigidity of the emissive state rationalize the observed high fluorescence quantum yield. The present research findings not only are helpful to better understand the reported experimental observations but also show routes to molecularly design functional D-π-A molecules for advanced optoelectronic, sensing, and biomedical applications.

Base-Mediated Annulation of Electrophilic Benzothiophene with Naphthols and Phenols: Accessing Benzothiophene-Fused Heteroacenes

A base-mediated annulation of 2-nitrobenzothiophenes with naphthols was realized for the synthesis of hitherto unknown class of heteroacenes, namely benzothieno[2,3-b]naphthofurans. By using naphthols with a hydroxyl group positioned at 1st or 2nd position, we could synthesize two positional isomers, benzothieno[2,3-b]naphtho[2,1-d]furans or benzothieno[2,3-b]naphtho[2,3-d]furans. The annulation was found to be general with a range of substituted 2-nitrobenzothiophenes and naphthols. This heteroannulation of benzothiophene was extended using a range of phenols affording the corresponding benzothieno[2,3-b]benzofurans in moderate yields. The basic photophysical properties of these heteroacenes were evaluated, and we also demonstrated the applicability of this annulation on the gram scale.

Recent Advances towards the Synthesis and Material Applications of Indoloindoles

An important class of N -heteroacenes is indoloindoles which are air-stable, electron-rich and possesses many tuneable properties. Initially, indoloindoles were explored for potential biological applications but current interest is based on their performance as photovoltaic materials. With growing applications of indoloindoles across multiple facets as organic functional materials, the need for efficient methods to synthesize and functionalize indoloindoles has taken a centre stage. Over the years, synthetic routes leading to indoloindoles have evolved from multistep protocols to one-pot multicomponent synthesis. Present literature boasts of a variety of reports that employ metals such as Cu, Ru, Rh, Pd, or Au to mediate the reaction towards indoloindoles. As alternatives to such metal-mediated methods, researchers have also developed metal-free and catalyst-free conditions. Indoloindoles, which are fundamentally fused-indoles, are often synthesized by transforming indole derivatives but methods that employ anilines or arynes as the starting substrates are equally abundant. The present review highlights the rich diversity and versatility of recent literature for the synthesis of indolo[3,2- b ]indoles, indolo[2,3- b ]indoles, indolo[7,6- g ]indoles, and indolo[5,4- e ]indoles. This review discusses protocols that were explicitly designed to obtain the above-mentioned indoloindoles and also explores several other methods that can be adapted to access said heteroacenes. Available mechanistic details pertaining to novel transformations have been detailed for the readers. Various applications where indoloindoles function as organic light-emitting diodes, organic field-effect transistors, solar cells, etc. have also been delved into before concluding with an outlook on future research.

Unprecedented access to functionalized pyrrolo[2,1-a]isoquinolines from the domino reaction of isoquinolinium ylides and electrophilic benzannulated heterocycles

We have come across an unexpected reaction between electrophilic indoles and isoquinolinium methylides for accessing functionalized pyrrolo[2,1-a]isoquinolines. The reaction was found in general to yield the products in good yields. We also observed the formation of S-S-bridged bis-pyrrolo[2,1-a]isoquinolines from the reaction of 3-nitro benzothiophene and isoquinolinium methylides.

Synthesis of Benzothienobenzofurans via Annulation of Electrophilic Benzothiophenes with Phenols

We have developed a metal-free, mild, and green synthetic route toward benzothieno[3,2-b]benzofurans by the annulation of 3-nitrobenzothiophene with phenols. The reaction was found to be general with a range of substituted phenols. In addition, we could extend the methodology for the synthesis of pentacenes and could demonstrate the synthesis in gram-scale. Moreover, we extended the strategy for the synthesis of benzothieno[2,3-b]benzofurans by starting from 2-nitrobenzothiophenes.

CuSO4-Catalyzed dual annulation to synthesize O, S or N-containing tetracyclic heteroacenes

In this work, CuSO4 is utilized as a practical redox catalyst for tandem dual annulation in the synthesis of indole-fused tetracyclic heteroacenes, which are important skeletons in both medicinal chemistry and materials chemistry. The preparation of such skeletons in a convenient and efficient manner is in high demand. This method realizes the modular synthesis of benzofuro-, benzothieno-, and indoloindoles from abundant feedstocks such as 2-halobenzyl halides and nitrile derivatives in up to 99% yields, providing a rapid access to diverse indole-fused heteroacenes with biological or optoelectronic properties.

J, Ramamurthy PC, Pai RK, K. N. NU, T. N. A, Soman S, Balakrishna RG. Variation of the donor and acceptor in D–A–π–A based cyanopyridine dyes and its effect on dye sensitized solar cells

Two organic D–A–π–A dyes (TPCTh and TPCRh), having 3-cyanopyridine as auxiliary acceptor with triphenylamine donor and cyanoacetic acid/rhodanine-3-acetic acid anchoring group, were synthesized and utilized as sensitizers in the fabrication of DSSC.