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Wang T, Gao Y, Chen B, Crespi VH, van Duin ACT. Prediction of a Novel Electromechanical Response in Polar Polymers with Rigid Backbones: Contrasting Furan-Derived Nanothreads to Poly(Vinylidene Fluoride). NANO LETTERS 2024. [PMID: 39016328 DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.4c01431] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/18/2024]
Abstract
Syn furan nanothreads have all oxygen atoms arranged on one side of the thread backbone; these polar threads present intriguing opportunities in electromechanical response owing to their rigid ladder-like backbone. We retrained a C/H/O reactive force field to simulate their response to external electric field for both end-anchored individual threads and bulk nanothread crystals, contrasting the results to those for poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) polymer. Whereas the field induces a length-independent torque in PVDF through backbone rotation about σ bonds, furan-derived nanothreads generate a length-dependent torque by progressively twisting their rigid backbone. This mode of response couples the rotational history of the electric field to axial tension in the anchored thread. In simulations of densely packed syn furan nanothread crystals without anchors, the crystals pole in a field (∼3 GV/m at 300 K) similar to that seen in simulations of PVDF, suggesting that crystals of polar nanothreads can be ferroelectric.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tao Wang
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, United States
| | - Yawei Gao
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, United States
| | - Bo Chen
- Donostia International Physics Center, Paseo Manuel de Lardizabal, 4, 20018 Donostia-San Sebastián Spain
- IKERBASQUE, Basque Foundation for Science, Plaza Euskadi 5, 48009 Bilbao, Spain
| | - Vincent H Crespi
- Department of Chemistry, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, United States
- Department of Physics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, United States
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, United States
| | - Adri C T van Duin
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, United States
- Department of Chemistry, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, United States
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, United States
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, United States
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Usuba J, Sun Z, Nguyen HPQ, Raju C, Schmidt-Rohr K, Han GGD. Mechanoactivated amorphization and photopolymerization of styryldipyryliums. COMMUNICATIONS MATERIALS 2024; 5:98. [PMID: 38859933 PMCID: PMC11162349 DOI: 10.1038/s43246-024-00539-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2024] [Accepted: 06/02/2024] [Indexed: 06/12/2024]
Abstract
Conventional topochemical photopolymerization reactions occur exclusively in precisely-engineered photoactive crystalline states, which often produces high-insoluble polymers. To mitigate this, here, we report the mechanoactivation of photostable styryldipyrylium-based monomers, which results in their amorphization-enabled solid-state photopolymerization and produces soluble and processable amorphous polymers. A combination of solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance, X-ray diffraction, and absorption/fluorescence spectroscopy reveals the crucial role of a mechanically-disordered monomer phase in yielding polymers via photo-induced [2 + 2] cycloaddition reaction. Hence, mechanoactivation and amorphization can expand the scope of topochemical polymerization conditions to open up opportunities for generating polymers that are otherwise difficult to synthesize and analyze.
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Affiliation(s)
- Junichi Usuba
- Department of Chemistry, Brandeis University, 415 South Street, Waltham, MA 02453 USA
| | - Zhenhuan Sun
- Department of Chemistry, Brandeis University, 415 South Street, Waltham, MA 02453 USA
| | - Han P. Q. Nguyen
- Department of Chemistry, Brandeis University, 415 South Street, Waltham, MA 02453 USA
| | - Cijil Raju
- Department of Chemistry, Brandeis University, 415 South Street, Waltham, MA 02453 USA
| | - Klaus Schmidt-Rohr
- Department of Chemistry, Brandeis University, 415 South Street, Waltham, MA 02453 USA
| | - Grace G. D. Han
- Department of Chemistry, Brandeis University, 415 South Street, Waltham, MA 02453 USA
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Vainauskas J, Borchers TH, Arhangelskis M, McCormick McPherson LJ, Spilfogel TS, Hamzehpoor E, Topić F, Coles SJ, Perepichka DF, Barrett CJ, Friščić T. Halogen bonding with carbon: directional assembly of non-derivatised aromatic carbon systems into robust supramolecular ladder architectures. Chem Sci 2023; 14:13031-13041. [PMID: 38023516 PMCID: PMC10664517 DOI: 10.1039/d3sc04191c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2023] [Accepted: 10/09/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Carbon, although the central element in organic chemistry, has been traditionally neglected as a target for directional supramolecular interactions. The design of supramolecular structures involving carbon-rich molecules, such as arene hydrocarbons, has been limited almost exclusively to non-directional π-stacking, or derivatisation with heteroatoms to introduce molecular assembly recognition sites. As a result, the predictable assembly of non-derivatised, carbon-only π-systems using directional non-covalent interactions remains an unsolved fundamental challenge of solid-state supramolecular chemistry. Here, we propose and validate a different paradigm for the reliable assembly of carbon-only aromatic systems into predictable supramolecular architectures: not through non-directional π-stacking, but via specific and directional halogen bonding. We present a systematic experimental, theoretical and database study of halogen bonds to carbon-only π-systems (C-I⋯πC bonds), focusing on the synthesis and structural analysis of cocrystals with diversely-sized and -shaped non-derivatised arenes, from one-ring (benzene) to 15-ring (dicoronylene) polycyclic atomatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and fullerene C60, along with theoretical calculations and a systematic analysis of the Cambridge Structural Database. This study establishes C-I⋯πC bonds as directional interactions to arrange planar and curved carbon-only aromatic systems into predictable supramolecular motifs. In >90% of herein presented structures, the C-I⋯πC bonds to PAHs lead to a general ladder motif, in which the arenes act as the rungs and halogen bond donors as the rails, establishing a unique example of a supramolecular synthon based on carbon-only molecules. Besides fundamental importance in the solid-state and supramolecular chemistry of arenes, this synthon enables access to materials with exciting properties based on simple, non-derivatised aromatic systems, as seen from large red and blue shifts in solid-state luminescence and room-temperature phosphorescence upon cocrystallisation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jogirdas Vainauskas
- School of Chemistry, University of Birmingham Edgbaston Birmingham B15 2TT UK
- Department of Chemistry, McGill University 801 Sherbrooke St. W. H3A 0B8 Montreal Canada
| | - Tristan H Borchers
- School of Chemistry, University of Birmingham Edgbaston Birmingham B15 2TT UK
- Department of Chemistry, McGill University 801 Sherbrooke St. W. H3A 0B8 Montreal Canada
| | - Mihails Arhangelskis
- Faculty of Chemistry, University of Warsaw 1 Pasteura Street Warsaw 02-093 Poland
| | - Laura J McCormick McPherson
- EPSRC National Crystallography Service, School of Chemistry, University of Southampton, Highfield Southampton UK
| | - Toni S Spilfogel
- Department of Chemistry, McGill University 801 Sherbrooke St. W. H3A 0B8 Montreal Canada
| | - Ehsan Hamzehpoor
- Department of Chemistry, McGill University 801 Sherbrooke St. W. H3A 0B8 Montreal Canada
| | - Filip Topić
- Department of Chemistry, McGill University 801 Sherbrooke St. W. H3A 0B8 Montreal Canada
| | - Simon J Coles
- EPSRC National Crystallography Service, School of Chemistry, University of Southampton, Highfield Southampton UK
| | - Dmytro F Perepichka
- Department of Chemistry, McGill University 801 Sherbrooke St. W. H3A 0B8 Montreal Canada
| | - Christopher J Barrett
- Department of Chemistry, McGill University 801 Sherbrooke St. W. H3A 0B8 Montreal Canada
| | - Tomislav Friščić
- School of Chemistry, University of Birmingham Edgbaston Birmingham B15 2TT UK
- Department of Chemistry, McGill University 801 Sherbrooke St. W. H3A 0B8 Montreal Canada
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Oburn SM, Huss S, Cox J, Gerthoffer MC, Wu S, Biswas A, Murphy M, Crespi VH, Badding JV, Lopez SA, Elacqua E. Photochemically Mediated Polymerization of Molecular Furan and Pyridine: Synthesis of Nanothreads at Reduced Pressures. J Am Chem Soc 2022; 144:22026-22034. [PMID: 36417898 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.2c09204] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Nanothreads are emerging one-dimensional sp3-hybridized materials with high predicted tensile strength and a tunable band gap. They can be synthesized by compressing aromatic or nonaromatic small molecules to pressures ranging from 15-30 GPa. Recently, new avenues are being sought that reduce the pressure required to afford nanothreads; the focus has been placed on the polymerization of molecules with reduced aromaticity, favorable stacking, and/or the use of higher reaction temperatures. Herein, we report the photochemically mediated polymerization of pyridine and furan aromatic precursors, which achieves nanothread formation at reduced pressures. In the case of pyridine, it was found that a combination of slow compression/decompression with broadband UV light exposure yielded a crystalline product featuring a six-fold diffraction pattern with similar interplanar spacings to previously synthesized pyridine-derived nanothreads at a reduced pressure. When furan is compressed to 8 GPa and exposed to broadband UV light, a crystalline solid is recovered that similarly demonstrates X-ray diffraction with an interplanar spacing akin to that of the high-pressure synthesized furan-derived nanothreads. Our method realizes a 1.9-fold reduction in the maximum pressure required to afford furan-derived nanothreads and a 1.4-fold reduction in pressure required for pyridine-derived nanothreads. Density functional theory and multiconfigurational wavefunction-based computations were used to understand the photochemical activation of furan and subsequent cascade thermal cycloadditions. The reduction of the onset pressure is caused by an initial [4+4] cycloaddition followed by increasingly facile thermal [4+2]-cycloadditions during polymerization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shalisa M Oburn
- Department of Chemistry, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, United States
| | - Steven Huss
- Department of Chemistry, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, United States
| | - Jordan Cox
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Margaret C Gerthoffer
- Department of Chemistry, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, United States
| | - Sikai Wu
- Department of Chemistry, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, United States
| | - Arani Biswas
- Department of Chemistry, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, United States
| | - Morgan Murphy
- Department of Chemistry, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, United States
| | - Vincent H Crespi
- Department of Chemistry, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, United States.,Department of Physics, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, United States.,Materials Research Institute, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, United States.,Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, United States
| | - John V Badding
- Department of Chemistry, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, United States.,Department of Physics, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, United States.,Materials Research Institute, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, United States.,Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, United States
| | - Steven A Lopez
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Elizabeth Elacqua
- Department of Chemistry, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, United States
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Chen B, Crespi VH, Hoffmann R. Theoretical Studies of Furan and Thiophene Nanothreads: Structures, Cycloaddition Barriers, and Activation Volumes. J Am Chem Soc 2022; 144:9044-9056. [PMID: 35549167 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.2c01720] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
This theoretical study examines the formation, structure, and stability of two of the most ordered nanothreads produced yet, those derived from furan and thiophene. The energetic consequences and activation barriers of the first two steps of oligomerization via a Diels-Alder mechanism were examined. The ca. 20 GPa difference in the synthetic pressures (lower for furan) is explainable in terms of the greater loss of aromaticity by the thiophene. The effects of pressure on the reaction profiles, operating through a volume decrease along the reaction coordinate, are illustrated. The interesting option of polymerization proceeding in one or two directions opens up the possibility of polymers with opposing, cumulative dipole moments. The computed activation volumes are consistently more negative for furan, in accordance with the lower onset pressure of furan polymerization. The energetics of three ordered polymer structures were examined. The syn polymer, with all O/S atoms on the same side, if not allowed to distort, is at a high energy relative to the other two due to the O/S lone pair repulsion, understandably greater for S than for O at the 2.8/2.6 Å separation. Set free, the syn isomers curve or arch in two- or three-dimensional (helical) ways, whose energetics are traced in detail. The syn polymer can also stabilize itself by twisting into zig-zag or helical energy minima. The release of strain in a linear thread as the pressure is relaxed to 1 atm, with consequent thread curving, is a likely mechanism for the observed loss of the crystalline order in the polymer as it is returned to ambient pressure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bo Chen
- Donostia International Physics Center, Paseo Manuel de Lardizabal, 4, Donostia-San Sebastian 20018, Spain.,Ikerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science, Plaza Euskadi 5, Bilbao 48009, Spain
| | - Vincent H Crespi
- Department of Chemistry, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, United States.,Department of Physics, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, United States.,Materials Research Institute, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, United States.,Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, United States
| | - Roald Hoffmann
- Baker Laboratory, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, United States
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