Design of organophosphorus materials for organic electronics and bio-applications

π-Extended molecules are key components for the development of materials science. In fact, polyaromatic structures are fundamental for the scientific and technological progress of fields such as organic electronics and bio-applications. Beneficial properties of π-extended structures are absorption in the visible region, often luminescence, high electron mobilities and stability. Common approaches to adjust the properties of polyaromatic structures to functional setups involve changes in shape and size at the molecular level. Recently, incorporating hetero-elements emerged as successful approach. In this regard, organophosphorus conjugated molecules are new materials holding great promise for potential applications. In this review, we comprehensively discuss the design/development of polyaromatic phosphorus materials and their applicability. We establish structure/property/applicability relationships to provide key guidelines for the engineering of newer, future applications. This article thus provides a source of information for the further development of this rapidly evolving field of research.     

Analyses of reaction rate data for the simple hydrolysis of acetic anhydride in the acetonitrile/water and acetone/water cosolvent systems using recently developed thermodynamic rate equations

This article presents reaction rate data for the simple hydrolysis of acetic anhydride in the acetonitrile/water and acetone/water cosolvent systems and regression analyses using recently developed thermodynamic rate equations that contain electrostatic and solvent-solute terms. The isomole fraction plots for these reaction systems are linear, and previous theoretical work has shown that the electrostatic term is negligible for such systems. On the other hand, the reaction rates are dependent upon the cosolvent mole fraction, indicating that the solvent-solute term, which is modeled empirically, is significant. The results of the analyses provide the foundation for a paradigm shift away from the emphasis on electrostatic effects to more tenable explanations of kinetic behavior in solvent systems.     

Insights into the Control of Optoelectronic Properties in Mixed-Stacking Charge-Transfer Complexes

Although cocrystallization has provided a promising platform to develop new organic optoelectronic materials, it is still a big challenge to purposely design and achieve specific optoelectronic properties. Herein, a series of mixed-stacking cocrystals (TMFA, TMCA, and TMTQ) were designed and synthesized, and the regulatory effects of the acceptors on the co-assembly behavior, charge-transfer nature, energy-level structures, and optoelectronic characteristics were systematically investigated. The results demonstrate that it is feasible to achieve effective charge-transport tuning and photoresponse switching by carefully regulating the intermolecular charge transfer and energy orbitals. The inherent mechanisms underlying the change in these optoelectronic behaviors were analyzed in depth and elucidated to provide clear guidelines for future development of new optoelectronic materials. In addition, due to the excellent photoresponsive characteristics of TMCA, TMCA-based phototransistors were investigated with varying light wavelength and optical power, and TMCA shows the best performance among all reported cocrystals under UV illumination.     

Photoinduced Betaine Generation for Efficient Photothermal Energy Conversion

The conversion of solar energy to thermal, chemical, or electrical energy attracts great attention in chemistry and physics. There has been a considerable effort for the efficient extraction of photons throughout the entire solar spectrum. In this work light energy was efficiently harvested by using a long-lived betaine photogenerated from an acridinium-based electron donor–acceptor dyad. The photothermal energy-conversion efficiency of the dyad is significantly enhanced by simultaneous illumination with blue (420–440 nm) and yellow (>480 nm) light in comparison with the sum of the conversion efficiencies for individual illumination with blue or yellow light. The enhanced photothermal effect is due to the photogenerated betaine, which absorbs longer-wavelength light than the dyad, and thus the dyad–betaine combination is promising for efficient photothermal energy conversion. The mechanisms of betaine generation and energy conversion are discussed on the basis of steady-state and transient spectral measurements.     

Molecular Engineering of Isomeric Benzofurocarbazole Donors for Photophysical Management of Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Emitters

Benzofurocarbazole moieties are commonly used donor structures in the design of thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) emitters. However, only 5 H-benzofuro[3,2-c]carbazole (34BFCz) has been reported and, to the best of our knowledge, no other benzofurocarbazole derivatives have been covered in the literature. In the present study, two further benzofurocarbazole moieties, 12 H-benzofuro[3,2-a]carbazole (12BFCz) and 7 H-benzofuro[2,3-b]carbazole (23BFCz), have been synthesized to investigate the effect of the donor structure on the photophysics and device parameters of TADF emitters. Two benzofurocarbazole-derived TADF emitters, 12-(2-(4,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-triazin-2-yl)phenyl)-12 H-benzofuro[3,2-a]carbazole (o12BFCzTrz) and 7-(2-(4,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-triazin-2-yl)phenyl)-7 H-benzofuro[2,3-b]carbazole (o23BFCzTrz), have been compared with 5-(2-(4,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-triazin-2-yl)phenyl)-5 H-benzofuro[3,2-c]carbazole (oBFCzTrz). The benzofurocarbazole donor structure governs the TADF characteristics, such as charge-transfer property and emission color. The 12BFCz donor has proved to be effective in blue-shifting the emission color, and 34BFCz has proven useful for improving the external quantum efficiency (EQE). The 12BFCz-derived o12BFCzTrz showed blue-shifted color coordinates of (0.159, 0.288), compared to (0.178, 0388) for o23BFCzTrz and (0.169, 0.341) for oBFCzTrz. The 34BFCz-derived oBFCzTrz exhibited an EQE of 22.9 %, compared to 19.2 % for o12BFCzTrz and 21.1 % for o23BFCzTrz.     

Dual Emission from Precious Metal-Free Luminophores Consisting of C,H, O,Si, and S/P at Room Temperature

Fluorescence–phosphorescence dual-emissive compounds are valuable tools for ratiometric luminescence sensing. Herein, it is reported that 2,5-bis(phenylsulfonyl)- and 2,5-bis[bis(4-methoxyphenyl)phosphinyl]-1,4-disiloxybenzenes exhibit dual emission with emission peaks that were easily identified without performing time-gated measurement. The disiloxybenzenes in powder simultaneously fluoresced and phosphoresced at 358–374 and 457–470 nm, respectively, under vacuum. The intensity ratios of the phosphorescence/fluorescence maxima of the disiloxybenzenes in powder and in a thin film of poly(methyl methacrylate) were sensitive to temperature and molecular oxygen, respectively. The plots of the relative intensity versus temperature or partial pressure of molecular oxygen were well fitted with calibration curves defined by an exponential approximation with excellent correlation coefficients R² (0.9708–0.9921), demonstrating the high potential of the disiloxybenzenes as precious metal-free probes applicable to ratiometric luminescence sensing.     

Anilate Tethered Neutral Tetrahedral Pd(II) Cages Exhibiting Selective Encapsulation of Xylenes and Mesitylene

The design of porous materials for the recognition of multiple hydrocarbons is highly desirable for the energy-efficient separation and recognition of chemical feedstock. Herein, three new iso-structural porous discrete metal–organic cages of formula {[Pd₃(NiPr)₃PO]₄(R-AN)₆} (R-AN=anilate linkers) for the selective recognition of substituted aromatic hydrocarbons are reported. The tetrahedral cages 1 , 2 , and 3 containing anilate, chloranilate, and bromanilate linkers exhibited selective encapsulation of mesitylene, o-xylene, and p-xylene, respectively, over other analogous aromatic hydrocarbons. These selective encapsulations were driven by the variations in the portal diameters present at each of these cages and their interactions with the hydrocarbon guests. These observations are supported by mass spectrometry, NMR studies, and theoretical binding-energy calculations.     

Control over Kinetic and Thermodynamically Driven Pathways of Crystallization to Yield Cofacial and Slipped-Stack Dimers in Single Crystals

Control over the molecular packing in the solid state is of utmost importance in regulating the bulk optical properties of organic semiconductors. The electronic coupling between the molecules makes it possible to improve the properties of the bulk materials. This work reports an example of control over the selective formation of polymorphic single crystals of donor–acceptor-type small-molecule compound 25TR by 1) kinetic or 2) thermodynamic course of crystallisation to yield slipped stack (S) and cofacial (C) dimers in the single crystals. The distinct optical characteristics of the C-dimer and S-dimer are summarised. Both forms show significant excitonic interactions in the solid state, and the S-dimeric form has strong yellowish orange fluorescence, whereas the C-dimeric form is non-fluorescent in the crystalline state. DFT calculations and differential scanning calorimetric experiments revealed that the C-dimer polymorph is the thermodynamically stable form with a free energy offset of 0.43 eV in comparison with the S-dimer. Interestingly, the thermodynamically driven non-fluorescent single crystal was found to be convertible to its fluorescent form irreversibly by thermal trigger. The charge-carrier-transport characteristics of these two polymorphs were computed by using the Marcus–Hush formalism. The computations of the charge-carrier-transport behaviour revealed that the S-dimer ( 25TR_(R) ) is ambipolar, whereas the C-dimer ( 25TR_(Y) ) is predominantly n-type.     

Solvophobically Driven Complexation of Adamantyl Mannoside with β-Cyclodextrin in Water and Structured Organic Solvents

The effects of solvent and temperature on the complexation of adamantyl mannoside with β-cyclodextrin and 6-O-monotosyl-6-deoxy-β-cyclodextrin were explored experimentally and by means of molecular dynamics simulations. Efficient binding was observed only in hydrogen-bonded solvents, which indicated solvophobically driven complexation. The stability of the inclusion complex was considerably higher in aqueous media. A pronounced temperature dependence of Δ_rH^○ and Δ_rS^○, resulting in perfect enthalpy–entropy compensation, was observed in water. The complexation thermodynamics was in line with classical rationale for the hydrophobic effect at lower temperatures and the nonclassical explanation at higher temperatures. This finding linked cyclodextrin complexation thermodynamics with insights regarding the effect of temperature on the hydration water structure. The complexation enthalpies and entropies were weakly dependent on temperature in organic media. The signs of Δ_rH^○ and Δ_rS^○ were in accordance with the nonclassical hydrophobic (solvophobic) effect. The structures of the optimized product corresponded to those deduced spectroscopically, and the calculated and experimentally obtained values of Δ_rG^○ were in very good agreement. This investigation clearly demonstrated that solvophobically driven formation of cyclodextrin complexes could be anticipated in structured solvents in general. However, unlike in water, adamantane and the host cavity behaved solely as structure breakers in the organic media explored so far.     

Hydrogen-Bond Catalysis of Imine Exchange in Dynamic Covalent Systems

The reversibility of imine bonds has been exploited to great effect in the field of dynamic covalent chemistry, with applications such as preparation of functional systems, dynamic materials, molecular machines, and covalent organic frameworks. However, acid catalysis is commonly needed for efficient equilibration of imine mixtures. Herein, it is demonstrated that hydrogen bond donors such as thioureas and squaramides can catalyze the equilibration of dynamic imine systems under unprecedentedly mild conditions. Catalysis occurs in a range of solvents and in the presence of many sensitive additives, showing moderate to good rate accelerations for both imine metathesis and transimination with amines, hydrazines, and hydroxylamines. Furthermore, the catalyst proved simple to immobilize, introducing both reusability and extended control of the equilibration process.