Synthesis, characterization, and properties of 7,7′-bis(3,6-di-tert-butylcarbazol-N-yl)-substituted fluorenyl-oligothiophenes

A series of new 7,7′bis(3,6-di-tert-butylcarbazol-N-yl)-substituted fluorenyl-oligothiophenes bearing 0-, 2-, 4-, 6-, and 8-thiophene rings, namely BCFTn, were synthesized using palladium catalyzed Stille dimerization coupling reactions of their corresponding brominated thiophenes. The relationship between the chemical structure and the properties of these oligomers was evaluated. With respect to the electronic properties, the longest wavelength absorptions, emissions, and also the oxidation potentials can be tuned by varying the conjugation length of the oligothiophene segments. The terminal carbazole and fluorene moieties of the resulting materials are beneficial for their morphology, conjugation length, and solubility.     

Synthesis and characterization of N-carbazole end-capped oligofluorene-thiophenes

A series of novel N-carbazole end-capped oligofluorene-thiophenes with one, two, three, and four thiophene rings were synthesized using either palladium catalyzed cross-coupling reaction or nickel-catalyzed reductive dimerization. All the oligomers have been characterized by ¹H, ¹³C NMR, FTIR, UV-vis, PL spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. It has been demonstrated that the optical, thermal, and electrochemical properties of these materials can be tuned by varying the conjugation length of the oligothiophene segment. The terminal carbazole and fluorene moieties of the resulting materials are beneficial for their morphology, conjugation length, and solubility. These bright fluorescent, thermally and electrochemically stable compounds have potential applications as light-emitting and hole-transporting layers in organic light-emitting devices.     

Synthesis, optical, electrochemical, and thermal properties of α,α′-bis(9,9-bis-n-hexylfluorenyl)-substituted oligothiophenes

A series of new α,α′-bis(9,9-bis-n-hexylfluorenyl)-substituted oligothiophenes with 2-, 4-, and 6-thiophene rings have been synthesized via a nickel-catalyzed reductive dimerization and their optical, electrochemical, and thermal properties investigated. The fluorene substituents have shown electronic interactions with the oligothiophene chains, enhanced the solubility of these materials and stabilized the radical cation and dication by blocking the reactive α-positions of the thiophene moieties. The absorption, fluorescence, electrochemical, and thermal properties of these materials can be tuned by varying the conjugation length of the oligothiophene segment.     

New star-shaped molecules derived from thieno[3,2-b]thiophene unit and triphenylamine

A series of new substituted triphenylamine (TPA) derivatives with alkyl thieno[3,2-b]thiophene and thiophene units were synthesized in a combinatorial manner. Suzuki coupling of a dioxaborolane TPA derivative and 2-bromo-3-nonylthieno[3,2-b]thiophene or Stille coupling of fresh stannyl thieno[3,2-b]thiophene was used. All compounds were characterized by ¹H and ¹³C NMR, HRMS, UV-vis spectrometry and DSC measurements. It was demonstrated that the optical and thermal properties of these materials can be tuned by varying both the conjugation length and thienothiophene and thiophene combination on the TPA branches. Moreover, the measured molar extinction coefficients were increasing from 63,000 (λ_max = 354 nm) to 131,000 L mol⁻¹ cm⁻¹ (λ_max = 428 nm) for TPA-thienothiophenes and TPA-bithiophene thienothiophenes, respectively. Some of them showed molecular glass behavior.     

Extended phenothiazines: synthesis,photophysical and redox properties,and efficient photocatalytic oxidative coupling of amines

Herein we successfully developed a ring-fusion approach to extend the conjugation length of phenothiazines and synthesized a series of novel extended phenothiazines 1–5. The intriguing π-conjugation length-dependent photophysical and redox properties of 1–5, and their photocatalytic performance towards visible-light-driven oxidative coupling reactions of amines were systematically investigated. The results indicated that this series of extended phenothiazines exhibited continuous red shifts of light absorption with increasing numbers of fused rings. As compared with the conventional phenothiazine (PTZ), all the extended phenothiazines displayed reversible redox behavior and maintained a strong excited-state reduction potential as well. Consequently, 3, 4 and 5 with longer effective conjugation lengths could efficiently catalyze the oxidative coupling of amines to imines under visible-light irradiation; by comparison, the shorter 1, 2 and PTZ could only catalyze such reactions in the presence of UV light. Moreover, 3 showed superior catalytic performance which can result in better yields within a shorter reaction time, and in a broad substrate scope. Finally, a direct and efficient conversion of amines to imines under sunlight in an air atmosphere was successfully realized. We believe that our study including the new phenothiazine modification methodology and the newly developed extended phenothiazine-based photocatalysts will open up a new way to develop novel phenothiazine-based materials for optoelectronic and catalytic applications.

Herein, we successfully developed a ring-fusion approach to extend the conjugation length of phenothiazines that were demonstrated to be efficient photocatalysts for visible-light-driven oxidative coupling reactions of amines under an air atmosphere.     

Spectral and intramolecular charge transfer properties in terminal donor/acceptor-substituted all-trans-α,ω-diphenylpolyenes and α,ω-diphenylpolyynes

The absorption spectra and intramolecular charge transfer (CT) properties of terminal donor/acceptor-substituted all-trans-α,ω-diphenylpolyenes (DPE) and α,ω-diphenylpolyynes (DPY) molecules with different conjugated bridge length and substitution modes were investigated by using quantum chemical calculations. We calculated the ground state structures and energy of two series of terminal donor/acceptor DPE and DPY by DFT method. The dependence of conjugation length and substitution modes of the electronic absorption spectra was obtained by TDDFT calculation. The hybrid-GGA XC-functional PBE0 employed in this work was selected from several functionals by comparing the calculated electronic spectral data with experimental value. The CIS-based generalized Mulliken-Hush (GMH) approach was further used to calculate coupling values H(AD) of the CT process. The calculation shows that both the HOMO-LUMO energy gaps and average bond length alternations between unsaturated multiple (C≡C and C=C) and saturated single bonds (C-C) decrease regularly with the extension of conjugation. The effective conjugated length (ECL) of DPE and DPY with the same order MM > MP/PM > PP is found together with the regular red shift of the electronic absorption spectra with the extension of conjugation, resulting from the different π-electron delocalization and conjugation efficiency. The GMH analysis further suggests that the CT process in both DPE and DPY is predominated by the through-bond mechanism. The remarkable difference of the conjugated length dependence of squared CT coupling between substituted DPE and DPY is the result of the energetic matching degree of the frontier molecular orbitals between donor/acceptor and the conjugated bridge.     

Conjugation expansion strategy enables highly stable all-polymer solar cells

The stability issue is one of the key factors hindering the commercial application of organic solar cells. All-polymer organic solar cell is one of the effective ways to solve the stability problem. In this work, we designed and synthesized two polymer donor materials PBDT and PDTBDT with different conjugation ranges, and demonstrated for the first time that extending the conjugation range of donor materials in all polymer solar cells can significantly improve device efficiency and stability. The experimental results of materials and devices show that PDTBDT with a larger conjugation range has stronger crystallinity and a more planar structure, which endows the active layer in its corresponding device with higher exciton dissociation probability, lower carrier recombination probability, more balanced charge transport properties and more favorable film morphology. As a result, the PDTBDT:PYF-T-o devices display an outstanding PCE of 13.38%, which is much higher than PBDT with smaller conjugation range based devices. Moreover, the PDTBDT:PYF-T-o device retains 0.86 of the initial PCE after over 500 h in the air atmosphere, exhibiting significantly improved stability. The improved stability is attributed to the enhanced moisture and air tolerance of active layer film thanks to the strong crystallinity of the donor material. These results demonstrate that the conjugation expansion strategy is one of the effective ways to obtain efficient and stable all-polymer organic solar cells.     

Electronic absorption spectra of arylmethylene, ethylidene, and allylidene 3H-furan-2-one derivatives

The electronic absorption spectra of 3H-furan-2-ones containing substituents with varied length of the conjugation chain in position C³ of the heteroring are examined. The conclusions are made about the direction of the band shift depending on the structure and size of the conjugation system of the substituents.     

Synthesis of tri-, penta-, and heptasaccharides,functionalized with orthogonally N-protected amino residues at the reducing and non-reducing ends

The synthesis of four bifunctionalized orthogonally N-protected oligosaccharides derived from lactose and mannose, intended as cross-linking derivatives, is described. The aminosugar at the non-reducing end is derivatized with an N-Boc-protected glycine moiety, and further connected to either a mannose (1→6) disaccharide or (1→3) lactose units (one, two or three) resulting in tri-, penta-, or heptasaccharides. All of the synthesized oligosaccharides have an N-benzyloxycarbonyl-aminoethyl residue at the reducing end. The orthogonal N-Boc/N-Cbz protection group pattern enables further conjugation/derivatization and results in a hydrophilic cross-linking molecule. It was found that the order of the final synthetic steps was crucial to avoid acyl migration. A suitable amide coupling protocol has been applied to introduce the N-Boc-protected glycine moiety in alcoholic solvent. The synthesized oligosaccharides will provide a model system to investigate the influence of length, structure and flexibility.     

Star-shaped oligo(p-phenylene)-functionalized truxenes as blue-light-emitting materials: synthesis and the structure-property relationship

In this contribution, we described a strategy to prepare a series of well-defined, blue-light-emitting materials with truxene unit as the core and oligo(p-phenylene) (from one to four phenyl units) as the branches. The Suzuki coupling reactions between truxene bromide derivatives and phenylboronic acid or 1,1′-biphenyl-4-boronic acid catalyzed by Pd(0) afforded the desired compounds Tr-1-Ph, Tr-2-Ph, Tr-3-Ph and Tr-4-Ph. With stepwise increases of the benzene rings, the desired molecules exhibited exceptional photophysical properties as well as increasing thermal stability. T_gs increased from 39 °C for Tr-1-Ph to 192 °C for Tr-4-Ph. The absorption and the emission maximum peaks of these four compounds were red-shifted from the ultraviolet to the blue region with the increase of effective conjugation length. All results demonstrated that the physical properties were facilely tuned by connecting different types and different conjugated lengths to C-2, C-7, and C-12 positions of the truxene core.     

Modified porphyrinoids from carbazates and hydrazones and the first crystal structure of a di-iminoporphodimethene

Novel porphyrinoids with interrupted conjugation (di-iminoporphodimethenes) result from the Pd-catalyzed coupling of meso-bromo porphyrins and their metal complexes with carbazates and hydrazones, followed by aerial oxidation. X-ray crystallography revealed a saddle shape for molecules of the nickel(II) complex of a di-iminoporphodimethene.     

Synthesis of a hairpin pyrrole-imidazole polyamide conjugate containing a quinone methide precursor and vinyl linking group

Standard procedures for elaborating a quinone methide precursor for conjugation to a DNA ligand was not compatible with the presence of a vinyl group. Instead, an acrylate linker was attached by Heck coupling subsequent to o-substitution of the phenolic precursor. This transformation required protection of the phenolic group and use of ethyl acrylate rather than acrylic acid. The presence of the vinyl group also rendered the quinone methide precursor more labile to alkaline conditions than its equivalent saturated derivative and required mild conditions for coupling to the pyrrole-imidazole polyamide.     

Synthesis of hyperbranched polymers with precise conjugation length

A set of AB₂ type monodisperse conjugated oligomers carrying two bromo functional groups and one boronic ester functional group were prepared by iterative deprotection and Sonogashira cross‐coupling reactions. Suzuki polycondensation of these AB₂ type monodisperse oligomers afforded hyperbranched polymers. The hyperbranched conjugated polymers we prepared possess not only precisely controlled conjugation length like monodisperse conjugated oligomers but also the structural feature of hyperbranched polymers. Optical property investigation demonstrated that the maximum absorption and emission wavelength red‐shifted along with the increasing of the conjugation length between the two branching points and the hyperbranched structure could effectively reduce the aggregation of the conjugated polymer chains. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 1084–1092, 2007     

Highly Emissive Far Red/Near‐IR Fluorophores Based on Borylated Fluorene–Benzothiadiazole Donor–Acceptor Materials

Stille, Suzuki–Miyaura and Negishi cross‐coupling reactions of bromine‐functionalised borylated precursors enable the facile, high yielding, synthesis of borylated donor–acceptor materials that contain electron‐rich aromatic units and/or extended effective conjugation lengths. These materials have large Stokes shifts, low LUMO energies, small band‐gaps and significant fluorescence emission >700 nm in solution and when dispersed in a host polymer.     

Absorption spectrum of flexible conjugated polymers: the weak-disorder limit

Purely conformational contributions to dipole transition moments lead to a general new expression for the absorption spectrum of flexible conjugated polymers with persistence length ξ_c and alternation δ. Blue-shifts are found at rod-to-coil transitions without invoking rotational defects that break the conjugation. Conformational coupling in the weak-disorder limit increases the effective alternation.     

Aspects of molecular design of conducting polymers

A review discussion of the facts and factors to be considered in the molecular design of conducting polymers is presented. Topics discussed are: molecular properties and solid state properties; towards high conductivity— conjugation length and chain orientation; counter ions and ion exchange; materials design—solubilization, processability and molecular composites.     

Synthesis and characterization of thiophene/3-alkylthiophene random cooligomers

Several random cooligomers based on thiophene and β-substituted alkyl derivatives, i.e. 3-methyl- and 3-octylthiophene, have been chemically synthesized by an oxidative coupling reaction in the presence of iron(III) chloride. The powdered samples were characterized by TGA, FTIR, UV and cyclic voltammetry measurements. The influence of the alkyl substituent on the homo/cooligomer stability, conjugation length, degree of polymerization and presence of defects is discussed. Electronic Publication     

Synthesis and characterization of monodisperse oligo(fluorene-co-bithiophene)s

A series of monodisperse oligo(9,9-di-n-octylfluorene-co-bithiophene)s (OFbTs) with molecular lengths of up to 19.5 nm and molecular weights up to 7025 g mol(-1) has been synthesized by a divergent/convergent approach involving Stille coupling reactions. Stille coupling is quite efficient in preparing this class of oligomers, and even the molecule with nine fluorene units and eight bithiophene units (F9Th16) can be synthesized in a yield as high as 70 %. Because of easy functionalization of the thiophene ring at its alpha position, no additional protecting group allowing activation for further reaction is necessary. However, the synthetic routes must be optimized to eliminate contamination of the targeting compounds with the homocoupling product of the organotin reagents. Synthesis of the longest oligomer F13Th24 in a relative large quantity is limited by its low yield due to the pronounced ligand-exchange side reactions of the starting materials and reaction intermediates. All oligomers longer than F4Th6 are nematic mesomorphs and exhibit enhanced glass transition temperature and clearing point with increasing molecular length, as revealed by differential scanning calorimetry and polarizing optical microscopy. Absorption and photoluminescence (PL) measurements reveal that OFbTs are well-conjugated systems with an effective conjugation length longer than the length of F13Th24.     

Preparation of synthetic glycoconjugates as potential vaccines against Shigella flexneri serotype 2a disease

The synthesis of three neoglycopeptides incorporating carbohydrate haptens, differing in length, covalently linked to a non natural universal T helper peptide is disclosed. They were synthesized according to a blockwise strategy based on the condensation of appropriate di-, tri-, and tetrasaccharide trichloroacetimidate donors onto an azidoethyl 2-acetamido-2-deoxybeta-D-glucopyranoside acceptor. Use of thiol-maleimide coupling chemistry allowed site-selective efficient conjugation.