Products and mechanism of acene dimerization. A computational study

The high reactivity of acenes can reduce their potential applications in the field of molecular electronics. Although pentacene is an important material for use in organic field-effect transistors because of its high charge mobility, its reactivity is a major disadvantage hindering the development of pentacene applications. In this study, several reaction pathways for the thermal dimerization of acenes were considered computationally. The formation of acene dimers via a central benzene ring and the formation of acene-based polymers were found to be the preferred pathways, depending on the length of the monomer. Interestingly, starting from hexacene, acene dimers are thermodynamically disfavored products, and the reaction pathway is predicted to proceed instead via a double cycloaddition reaction (polymerization) to yield acene-based polymers. A concerted asynchronous reaction mechanism was found for benzene and naphthalene dimerization, while a stepwise biradical mechanism was predicted for the dimerization of anthracene, pentacene, and heptacene. The biradical mechanism for dimerization of anthracene and pentacene proceeds via syn or anti transition states and biradical minima through stepwise biradical pathways, while dimerization of heptacene proceeds via asynchronous ring closure of the complex formed by two heptacene molecules. The activation barriers for thermal dimerization decrease rapidly with increasing acene chain length and are calculated (at M06-2X/6-31G(d)+ZPVE) to be 77.9, 57.1, 33.3, -0.3, and -12.1 kcal/mol vs two isolated acene molecules for benzene, naphthalene, anthracene, pentacene, and heptacene, respectively. If activation energy is calculated vs the initially formed complex of two acene molecules, then the calculated barriers are 80.5, 63.2, 43.7, 16.7, and 12.3 kcal/mol. Dimerization is exothermic from anthracene onward, but it is endothermic at the terminal rings, even for heptacene. Phenyl substitution at the most reactive meso-carbon atoms of the central ring of acene blocks the reactivity of this ring but does not efficiently prevent dimerization through other rings.     

Structure, reactivity and aromaticity of acenes and their BN analogues: a density functional and electrostatic investigation

Density functional calculations have been carried out on a series of linearly annelated acenes and their BN analogues. Even though borazine shows aromatic and reactivity behavior parallel with that of benzene, its condensed derivatives show patterns different from those of their hydrocarbon analogues. Nucleus independent chemical shift (NICS) values in acenes suggest that the aromaticity of the inner rings is more than that of benzene, whereas in BN-acenes there is no substantial change in the aromaticity of the individual rings. Molecular electrostatic potential (MESP) is employed to obtain further insights into the bonding and reactivity trends for these systems. The MESP topography patterns of acenes and BN-acenes are substantially different, with BN-acenes showing more localized pi electron features compared to those of acenes. The MESP values at the critical points (CPs) indicate overall lowering of aromaticity in these annelated systems. However, this change is gradual among the BN-acenes.     

Local aromaticity in polyacenes manifested by individual proton and carbon shieldings: DFT mapping of aromaticity

Exponential dependencies between locally calculated geometric and magnetic indexes of aromaticity, harmonic oscillator model of aromaticity (HOMA) and nucleus independent chemical shifts (NICS)(0), NICS(1) and NICS(1)zz, and the number of conjugated benzene rings in linear acenes, from benzene to decacene were observed at B3LYP/6-311+G** level of theory. Correlations between HOMA and NICS indexes showed exponential dependencies and were fitted with simple three-parameter function. Similar correlations between both indexes of aromaticity and proton and carbon nuclear isotropic shieldings of individual acene rings were observed. Contrary to proton data, the predicted ¹³C nuclear isotropic shieldings of carbon atoms belonging to inner rings in polyacenes were less shielded, indicating lower aromaticity and therefore, higher reactivity.     

Oxidative dinuclear addition of a PdI-PdI moiety to arenes: generation of μ-η3:η3-arene-Pd(II)2 species

We report the oxidative dinuclear addition of a Pd(I)-Pd(I) bond to arenes. The oxidative dinuclear addition products, which have a bi-π-allyl-type arene dipalladium(II) structure, were obtained from [2.2]paracyclophane, anthracene, tetracene, and pentacene. A systematic study of the reaction of [Pd(2)(CH(3)CN)(6)][BF(4)](2) with benzene and polyacenes showed that the larger polyacenes, tetracene and pentacene, afforded the oxidative dinuclear addition products, while benzene, naphthalene, and anthracene gave the π-sandwich Pd(I)-Pd(I) complexes.     

Ring currents in aromatic hydrocarbons

Coupled Hartree-Fock theory is used to compute and map the current density induced in planar hydrocarbons by an external magnetic field. Results of useful accuracy can be obtained with modest (6-31G**) basis sets by employing a continuous gauge transformation. Maps are presented and discussed for benzene, naphthalene, anthracene, tetracene, pentacene, heptacene, and biphenylene. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Electron dynamics at polyacene/Au(111) interfaces

Two-photon photoemission (2PPE) spectroscopy is used to examine the excited electronic structure and dynamics at polyacene/Au(111) interfaces. Image resonances are observed in all cases (benzene, naphthalene, anthrathene, tetracene, and pentacene), as evidenced by the free-electron like dispersions in the surface plane and the dependences of these resonances on the adsorption of nonane overlayers. The binding energies and lifetimes of these resonances are similar for the five interfaces. Adsorption of nonane on top of these films pushes the electron density in the image resonance away from the metal surface, resulting in a decrease in the binding energy (-0.3 eV) and an increase in the lifetime (from <20 to approximately 110 fs). The insensitivity of the image resonances to the size of polyacene molecules and the absence of photoinduced electron transfer from the metal substrate to molecular states both suggest that the unoccupied molecular orbitals are not strongly coupled to the delocalized metal states or image potential resonances.     

Self-assembly of soluble anthracene, tetracene and pentacene derivatives

New soluble disubstituted acenes (tetracene, pentacene) have been designed in order to mimic 2,3-alkoxy derivatives of anthracene. They have been shown to self-assemble and gellify a large variety of organic solvents. This process involves the formation of nano-fibres through non-covalent molecular interactions (van der Waals, π-π stacking), weaving a three-dimensional supramolecular network. Efficient transfer of excitation energy through these nano-structures has been evidenced in an anthracene light-harvesting matrix doped with less than 1 mol% of a tetracene energy trap.     

Singlet excitons in crystalline naphthalene,antracene, tetracene and pentacene

The energies and oscillator strengths of exciton transitions in crystalline naphthalene, anthracene, tetracene and pentacene are calculated using second quantized boson theory. The lattice sums of Coulomb exciton transfer interactions consist of an Ewald sum of molecular point dipole-dipole interations and a direct sum of nondipolar interactions calculated from PPP wavefunctions using the atomic—multipole representation of transition charge densities. The calculated exciton energies and oscillator strengths are compared with available experimental data. For anthracene, inclusion of the nondipolar interactions leads to substantially better agreement between theory and experiment. For tetracene and pentracene, the factor group splittings of the lowest transition are determined primarily by crystal induced mixing with higher transitions.     

Kinetic and thermodynamic stability of acenes: Theoretical study of nucleophilic and electrophilic addition

To understand the reactivity of acenes, particularly pentacene, the addition of HCl and water to acenes was studied for the benzene-nonacene series at the B3LYP/6-31G(d) level of theory. Surprisingly, the reactivity of the acenes increases along the series up to hexacene and remains constant from hexacene and above due to the biradical character of the ground state of higher acenes. While the exothermicity of HCl and water additions are very similar, the activation barriers for HCl and water additions differ by a constant factor of ca. 27 kcal/mol. The barrier for the addition of HCl varies from 44 kcal/mol for benzene to 16-18 kcal/mol for pentacene-nonacene, whereas the barrier for the addition of water varies from 71 kcal/mol for benzene to 43-46 kcal/mol for pentacene-nonacene. The transition states (TSs) for the addition of water to acenes are relatively "late" on the reaction coordinate, compared to the "earlier" TSs for the addition of HCl. There is a substantial substituent effect on the energy barriers for these reactions. HCl behaves as an electrophile, with rhoHCl (vs rho p) = -4.48 and -3.39 for anthracenes and pentacenes, respectively, while water behaves as a nucleophile, with rhoHCl (vs rho p) = 2.35 and 1.39 for anthracenes and pentacenes, respectively.     

Methodologies for the synthesis of pentacene and its derivatives

In recent years, due to its high hole-mobility, high on/off current ratio and low threshold voltage, pentacene and its derivatives have found increasing application in the fabrication of light-emitting diodes, field-effect transistors and photovoltaic cells. It has also emerged as an alternative to silicon due to its similar performance to inorganic semiconductors. Pentacene cannot be isolated from the petroleum fractions like other acenes such as anthracene or tetracene, and therefore it needs to be chemically synthesized. The first successful synthesis of pentacene was reported in early 19th century where pentacene was obtained via dehydrogenation of 6,14-dihydropentacene. Since then a number of methods have been reported for the synthesis of pentacene. This review describes various strategies used for the synthesis of pentacene and its derivatives reported since 2005.     

Unusual reversibility in molecular break-up of PAHs: the case of pentacene dehydrogenation on Ir(111)

In this work, we characterize the adsorption of pentacene molecules on Ir(111) and their behaviour as a function of temperature. While room temperature adsorption preserves the molecular structure of the five benzene rings and the bonds between carbon and hydrogen atoms, we find that complete C–H molecular break up takes place between 450 K and 550 K, eventually resulting in the formation of small graphene islands at temperatures larger than 800 K. Most importantly a reversible temperature-induced dehydrogenation process is found when the system is annealed/cooled in a hydrogen atmosphere with a pressure higher than 5 × 10⁻⁷ mbar. This novel process could have interesting implications for the synthesis of larger acenes and for the manipulation of graphene nanoribbon properties.

In this work, we characterise the adsorption of pentacene molecules on Ir(111) and their dissociation behaviour as a function of temperature.     

Polarization energy of a localized charge in a molecular crystal. VI. Effect of excitons

The polarization energy of a localized charge carrier in a molecular crystal changes by ΔP near an exciton, viewed as a localized excited molecule of changed polarizability. Experimental polarizability changes in the first excited singlet state are used to calculate ΔP for various carrier and exciton positions in benzene, naphthalene, anthracene and tetracene. As the excited-state polarizability is larger, ΔP is normally negative, with minima ranging from ?12 meV in benzene to ?83 meV in tetracene. The change in charge-quadrupole energy ΔW_Q is estimated for naphthalene using a theoretical quadrupole moment for the first triplet state. At most sites |ΔW_Q| > |ΔP|, but the sign of ΔW_Q varies. The net exciton interaction with electrons in naphthalene varies from ?49 to +45 meV and with holes from ?106 to +29 meV. This behaviour is broadly complementary to that previously calculated for vacancies.     

Diels-Alder reaction of acenes with singlet and triplet oxygen -- theoretical study of two-state reactivity

An interesting change in mechanism (from concerted to biradical) is described for the reaction of acenes (benzene through pentacene) with molecular oxygen (either singlet oxygen, 1Deltag-O2, or triplet oxygen, 3Sigmag-O2).     

Optical dephasing of molecular dimers in mixed crystals: Picosecond photon echo experiments

Picosecond photon echo experiments are used to examine optical dephasing of substitutional dimers and monomers of tetracene and pentacene in p-terphenyl host crystals. A comparison of experiments on tetracene and pentacene dimers permits the mechanism responsible for temperature-dependent optical dephasing to be determined. It is shown that excitation of librations rather than scattering between delocalized dimer states is the principal mechanism.     

第一性原理的形变势理论研究声学声子散射对电荷传输的影响

本文应用密度泛函理论和玻尔兹曼方程,在形变势理论的框架和驰豫时间近似下,研究了分子晶体中电子与声学声子散射对电荷传输的影响.针对蒽、萘、丁省和并五苯的计算表明,非局域化电子的传输过程主要受到来自于声学声子的散射.对于蒽晶体,与以前的Holstein-Peierls模型计算结果相比,发现纵向声学声子对空穴的散射强度是光学声子的3倍,所得到的空穴迁移率更接近超纯单晶样品的实验测量结果.同时,我们发现电子的本征迁移率比空穴还要大,应用前线轨道交叠分析可以合理地解释这一结果.     

DFT calculation of structures and NMR chemical shifts of simple models of small diameter zigzag single wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs)

Linearly conjugated benzene rings (acenes), belt‐shape molecules (cyclic acenes) and model single wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) were fully optimized at the unrestricted level of density functional theory (UB3LYP/6‐31G*). The models of SWCNTs were selected to get some insight into the potential changes of NMR chemical shift upon systematic increase of the molecular size. The theoretical NMR chemical shifts were calculated at the B3LYP/pcS‐2 level of theory using benzene as reference. In addition, the change of radial breathing mode (RBM), empirically correlated with SWCNT diameter, was directly related with the radius of cyclic acenes. Both geometrical and NMR parameters were extrapolated to infinity upon increase in the studied systems size using a simple two‐parameter mathematical formula. Very good agreement between calculated and available experimental CC bond lengths of acenes was observed (RMS of 0.0173 Å). The saturation of changes in CC bond lengths and ¹H and ¹³C NMR parameters for linear and cyclic acenes, starting from 7–8 conjugated benzene rings, was observed. The ¹³C NMR parameters of individual carbon atoms from the middle of ultra‐thin (4,0) SWCNT formed from 10 conjugated cyclic acenes differ by about 130 ppm from the corresponding open end carbon nuclei. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Density functional theoretical investigation of the aromatic nature of BN substituted benzene and four ring polyaromatic hydrocarbons

We have studied the topological and local aromaticity of BN-substituted benzene, pyrene, chrysene, triphenylene and tetracene molecules. The nucleus-independent chemical shielding (NICS), harmonic oscillator model of aromaticity (HOMA), para-delocalization index (PDI) and aromatic fluctuation index (FLU) have been calculated to quantify aromaticity in terms of magnetic and structural criteria. We find that charge separations due to the introduction of heteroatoms largely affect both the local and topological aromaticity of these molecules. Our studies show that the presence of any kind of heteroatom in the ring not only reduces the local delocalization in the six membered ring, but also affects strongly the topological aromaticity. In fact, the relative orders of the topological and local aromaticity depend strongly on the position of the heteroatoms in the structure. In general, more ring shared BN containing molecules are less aromatic than the less ring shared BN molecules. In addition our results provide evidence that the structural stability of the molecule is dominated by the σ bond rather than the π bond.     

The role of acoustic phonon scattering in charge transport in organic semiconductors: a first-principles deformation-potential study

The electron-acoustic phonon scattering for charge transport in organic semiconductors has been studied by first-principles density functional theory and the Boltzmann transport equation with relaxation time approximation. Within the framework of deformation-potential theory, the electron-longitudinal acoustic phonon scattering probability and the corresponding relaxation time have been obtained for oligoacene single crystals (naphthalene, anthracene, tetracene and pentacene). Previously, the electron-optic...