Tandem phospha-Friedel-Crafts reaction toward curved π-conjugated frameworks with a phosphorus ring junction

The tandem phospha-Friedel-Crafts reaction transforms dichloro(m-teraryl)phosphine to the corresponding triarylphosphine derivatives containing curved π-conjugated frameworks with a phosphorus ring junction. The rigid molecular frameworks enable these unprecedented phosphine compounds to hold an extended π-conjugation spread over the whole molecule.     

Phosphorus Post-Functionalization of Diphosphahexaarenes

Diphosphahexaarenes are highly stable π-extended frameworks containing two six-membered phosphorus heterocycles that have emerged recently. Herein, we present a detailed investigation on the post-functionalization reactions of their phosphorus centers with special emphasis on the selectivity of the processes and the impact of the phosphorus functionalizations into the physicochemical properties. These studies reveal that indeed the phosphorus atoms of the diphosphahexaarenes are readily available to be functionalized with quaternizing and oxidizing agents as well as borane groups without compromising the stability of the system. In addition, the optoelectronic properties of the diphosphahexaarenes are impacted by the phosphorus post-modifications.     

Combining form with function--the dawn of phosphole-based functional materials

Phosphole-based π-conjugated compounds have recently attracted significant attention due their unique electronic properties. It is now well established that the versatile phosphorus chemistry offers great opportunities for efficient fine-tuning of the properties of π-conjugated systems from a fundamental point of view; a feature that pure carbon-based π-conjugated materials cannot provide. This perspective highlights the recent progress using phosphole-based π-conjugated building blocks towards applied materials with multiple and diverse functionalities.     

Clar Rules the Electronic Properties of 2D π-Conjugated Frameworks: Mind the Gap

The key electronic properties of a family of 2D frameworks structurally convergent with holey graphenes were studied. The bandgap of these materials decreases monotonically with size, showing a common trend with anthracenes and kekulenes. This was rationalized by Clar's sextet rule, which reveals a direct relationship between the molecular systems and the 2D frameworks. In addition, a detailed benchmark against experimental data showcased the high quality of the models, which reproduce accurately available electronic properties. Overall, it was shown that DFT can be used to screen and understand the intrinsic bandgaps and electrochemistry potentials for technological applications prior to the synthesis of π-conjugated porous materials.     

Pluripotent Features of Doubly Thiophene-Fused Benzodiphospholes as Organic Functional Materials

Linear ladder-type π-conjugated molecules have attracted much interest because of their intriguing physicochemical properties. To modulate their electronic structures, an effective strategy is to incorporate main-group elements into ladder-type π-conjugated molecules. In line with this strategy, a variety of ladder-type π-conjugated molecules with main-group elements have been synthesized to explore their potential utility as organic functional materials. In this context, phosphole-based π-conjugated molecules are highly attractive, owing to their unique optical and electrochemical properties, which arise from the phosphorus atom. Herein, the synthesis and physicochemical properties of doubly thiophene-fused benzodiphospholes, as a new class of phosphole-based ladder-type π-conjugated molecule, are reported. Systematic investigations into the physicochemical properties of doubly thiophene-fused benzodiphospholes revealed their pluripotent features: intense near-infrared fluorescence, excellent two-photon absorption property, and remarkably high electron-transporting ability. This study demonstrates the potential utility of doubly thiophene-fused benzodiphospholes as organic functional materials for biological imaging, nonlinear optics, organic transistors, and organic photovoltaics.     

Directed Molecular Stacking for Engineered Fluorescent Three-Dimensional Reduced Graphene Oxide and Coronene Frameworks

Three-dimensional fluorescent graphene frameworks with controlled porous morphologies are of significant importance for practical applications reliant on controlled structural and electronic properties, such as organic electronics and photochemistry. Here we report a synthetically accessible approach concerning directed aromatic stacking interactions to give rise to new fluorogenic 3D frameworks with tuneable porosities achieved through molecular variations. The binding interactions between the graphene-like domains present in the in situ-formed reduced graphene oxide (rGO) with functional porphyrin molecules lead to new hybrids via an unprecedented solvothermal reaction. Functional free-base porphyrins featuring perfluorinated aryl groups or hexyl chains at their meso- and β-positions were employed in turn to act as directing entities for the assembly of new graphene-based and foam-like frameworks and of their corresponding coronene-based hybrids. Investigations in the dispersed phase and in thin-film by XPS, SEM and FLIM shed light onto the nature of the aromatic stacking within functional rGO frameworks (denoted rGOFs) which was then modelled semi-empirically and by DFT calculations. The pore sizes of the new emerging reduced graphene oxide hybrids are tuneable at the molecular level and mediated by the bonding forces with the functional porphyrins acting as the “molecular glue”. Single crystal X-ray crystallography described the stacking of a perfluorinated porphyrin with coronene, which can be employed as a molecular model for understanding the local aromatic stacking order and charge transfer interactions within these rGOFs for the first time. This opens up a new route to controllable 3D framework morphologies and pore size from the Ångstrom to the micrometre scale. Theoretical modelling showed that the porosity of these materials is mainly due to the controlled inter-planar distance between the rGO, coronene or graphene sheets. The host-guest chemistry involves the porphyrins acting as guests held through π-π stacking, as demonstrated by XPS. The objective of this study is also to shed light into the fundamental localised electronic and energy transfer properties in these new molecularly engineered porous and fluorogenic architectures, aiming in turn to understand how functional porphyrins may exert stacking control over the notoriously disordered local structure present in porous reduced graphene oxide fragments. By tuning the porosity and the distance between the graphene sheets using aromatic stacking with porphyrins, it is also possible to tune the electronic structure of the final nanohybrid material, as indicated by FLIM experiments on thin films. Such nanohybrids with highly controlled pores dimensions and morphologies open the way to new design and assembly of storage devices and applications incorporating π-conjugated molecules and materials and their π-stacks may be relevant towards selective separation membranes, water purification and biosensing applications.     

Multinuclear metalladithiolenes: focusing on electronic communication in mixed-valent states

This Perspective addresses our recent studies relating to metalladithiolenes and their cluster complexes that exhibit peculiar electronic communication in mixed-valent (MV) states. Chapter 1 provides an introduction for the Perspective. Chapter 2 enumerates a series of phenylene-annulated π-conjugated trinuclear metalladithiolenes with intense electronic communication in the MV states. Chapter 3 treats heterometal cluster complexes synthesized by integrating zero-valent metal carbonyls on mononuclear metalladithiolenes, taking advantage of the coordination unsaturation of the latter. In the field of MV chemistry, their electronic communication through metal-metal bonds and potential inversion behavior are intriguing properties. Chapter 4 describes hexanuclear and nonanuclear heterometal cluster complexes created in combination with the methods introduced in Chapters 2 and 3. The resultant heterometal cluster complexes feature electronic communication through the vast phenylene-annulated π-conjugated trinuclear metalladithiolene frameworks, the intensity of which correlates with their planarity. Each chapter describes the synthesis, structural features, and electrochemical properties of the relevant compounds.     

Hydrogen-bonded inclusion compounds with reversed polarity: anionic metal-complexes and cationic organic linkers

Synthesized and structurally characterized is a new series of soft-host frameworks assembled by charge-assisted hydrogen bonds between an anionic metal complex (MC) and cationic organic linkers (OL), specifically [Co(en)(ox)(2)](-) and diprotonated 4,4'-bipyridinium (H(2)bpy) or 1,2-bis(4-pyridinium)ethylene (H(2)bpye). While frameworks built of cationic complexes and anionic organic linkers are already well-known, the seven new compounds described here represent the first series of frameworks with reversed polarity, that is, made of anionic complexes and cationic organic linkers. The compounds have a general formula [OL][MC](2)·n(guest), where the guest molecules 4,4'-biphenol (bp), 4-methoxyphenol (mp), 1,4-dimethoxybenzene (dmb), 1,6-dimethoxynaphtalene (dmn), and 4-nitroanisole (na). Structurally the compounds can be described as pillared-layer frameworks with layers constructed of MC anions and linked together by hydrogen-bonded cationic OL pillars. The guest molecules occupy the galleries between the pillars while their steric, electronic, and π-π and hydrogen-bonding capabilities influence the overall structure of the soft frameworks.     

Theoretical design of the biradical character in 1,3-diphosphacyclobutanediyl and homologous structures

The electronic nature of 1,3-diphosphacyclobutane-2,4-diyl is explored with wavefunction based and density functional methods. According to MCSCF calculations the singlet state of the title compound is a biradicaloid with closed shell character, the number of unpaired electrons, assigned upon the analysis of the natural orbitals, is close to one. The participation of closed shell contributions in the overall wavefunction arises from a strong mixing of canonical structures, which emphasizes (a) the phosphorane type of bonding as well as (b) π-delocalization within the ring system. The bonding situation changes when σ-attracting substituents, e.g. amino groups, are attached to the phosphorus atoms. They inhibit possible cyclic π-delocalization and enhance the biradical character within the ring system.     

Electronic structures and spectra of halogenated purines and pyrimidines III.σ-Electronic structure and some comments on the mechanism of the xanthine oxidase reaction of 2-halopurines and related analogs

The extended HMO (EHMO) and Pople-Segal SCF-MO-CNDO /2 calculations on purine, 8-oxopurine, 2-oxopurine, 2-fluoropurine, and 2-chloropurine indicate significant polarizations of the σ cores. It is shown that the polarizations of both σ and π frameworks are mutually opposing in some cases. The results from the two methods are compared for these complex biomolecules. It is found that the EHMO calculations tend to over-polarize the σ and π frameworks. However, the CNDO shows anomalous π-electron densities on N₍₇₎ and C₍₈₎ of the purine rings, and the reason for this anomaly is not certain. The application of the results to the xanthine oxidase system indicates that the substrate molecules are subject to a specific orientation on the enzyme surface to counteract the electronic reactivity, in support of the previous prediction based on the π-electron calculations. The CNDO results appear to be more satisfactory than the EHMO in this respect.     

A π-Conjugated,Covalent Phosphinine Framework

Structural modularity of polymer frameworks is a key advantage of covalent organic polymers, however, only C, N, O, Si, and S have found their way into their building blocks so far. Here, the toolbox available to polymer and materials chemists is expanded by one additional nonmetal, phosphorus. Starting with a building block that contains a λ⁵-phosphinine (C₅P) moiety, a number of polymerization protocols are evaluated, finally obtaining a π-conjugated, covalent phosphinine-based framework (CPF-1) through Suzuki–Miyaura coupling. CPF-1 is a weakly porous polymer glass (72.4 m² g⁻¹ BET at 77 K) with green fluorescence (λ_max=546 nm) and extremely high thermal stability. The polymer catalyzes hydrogen evolution from water under UV and visible light irradiation without the need for additional co-catalyst at a rate of 33.3 μmol h⁻¹ g⁻¹. These results demonstrate for the first time the incorporation of the phosphinine motif into a complex polymer framework. Phosphinine-based frameworks show promising electronic and optical properties, which might spark future interest in their applications in light-emitting devices and heterogeneous catalysis.     

The effect of extended conjugation on electrocatalytic CO2 reduction by molecular catalysts and macromolecular structures

Homogenous molecular catalysts have shown significant promise for the selective reduction of CO₂ to single products. However, their practical application in emerging CO₂ reduction technologies is hindered by their limited solubility and stability in aqueous solutions, their diffusion-dependent kinetics, and their poor recyclability. Incorporating discrete molecular catalysts into macromolecular architectures such as covalent organic frameworks is one solution to these limitations that allows for the synthesis of heterogeneous materials with increased activity and stability but that still maintain the selectivity and active-site tunability of discrete molecular catalysts. Forming such macromolecular materials necessarily extends the ligand π-conjugated network, which can have important effects on the electrocatalytic activity. In this review, we discuss recent studies on the effect of extended π-conjugation on the catalytic activity of molecular catalyst and extended macromolecular architectures, with an emphasis on how activity is influenced by charge delocalization, electrostatic effects, and electronic coupling between active sites.     

Phosphole-Fused Dehydropurpurins via Titanium-Mediated [2+2+1] Cyclization Strategy

A [2+2+1] cyclization strategy of bis(alkynyl)porphyrin using low-valent titanium species, generated in situ, afforded phosphole-fused dehydropurpurins for the first time. The systematic investigations on the electronic properties of the dehydropurpurins revealed their unique features owing to the oxidation states of the phosphorus atom on the fused phosphole ring. The phosphole P=O and P=S derivatives were found to possess high electron-accepting character derived from phosphorus(V) centers without the contribution of 24π antiaromatic character, suggesting their potential utility as electron-accepting materials. In contrast, the phosphorus(III) derivatives revealed different optical and electrochemical properties arising from both 18π aromatic and 24π antiaromatic networks including the lone pair of the phosphorus(III) atom. Overall, the oxidation state of the phosphorus atom has a clear impact on the whole electronic properties, demonstrating the advantages of chemical modifications of the phosphorus center for creating an exotic π-system. The application of titanium-mediated [2+2+1] cyclization to porphyrins is highly promising for expanding a world of heterole-fused porphyrinoids.     

Synthesizing Strained Azatriseptane Frameworks

Embedding seven-membered rings into polycyclic aromatic molecules is attractive as they can exert an influence on molecular conformation that ultimately changes the solubility and π-electronics. The considerations in designing and synthesizing a highly strained azatriseptane framework are discussed herein. We employ a twofold macrocyclization strategy to form the [7,7,7]-system and through scoping various strategies identify that the Friedel–Crafts approach is the key. In addition to the successes presented here, the synthetic limitations we have identified highlight the key challenges in forming triseptane frameworks and pave the way for second-generation analogues that may have various applications in optical and electronic organic materials.     

A Thiophene Backbone Enables Two-Dimensional Poly(arylene vinylene)s with High Charge Carrier Mobility

Linear conjugated polymers have attracted significant attention in organic electronics in recent decades. However, despite intrachain π-delocalization, interchain hopping is their transport bottleneck. In contrast, two-dimensional (2D) conjugated polymers, as represented by 2D π-conjugated covalent organic frameworks (2D c-COFs), can provide multiple conjugated strands to enhance the delocalization of charge carriers in space. Herein, we demonstrate the first example of thiophene-based 2D poly(arylene vinylene)s (PAVs, 2DPAV-BDT-BT and 2DPAV-BDT-BP , BDT=benzodithiophene, BT=bithiophene, BP=biphenyl) via Knoevenagel polycondensation. Compared with 2DPAV-BDT-BP , the fully thiophene-based 2DPAV - BDT - BT exhibits enhanced planarity and π-delocalization with a small band gap (1.62 eV) and large electronic band dispersion, as revealed by the optical absorption and density functional calculations. Remarkably, temperature-dependent terahertz spectroscopy discloses a unique band-like transport and outstanding room-temperature charge mobility for 2DPAV-BDT-BT (65 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹), which far exceeds that of the linear PAVs, 2DPAV-BDT-BP , and the reported 2D c-COFs in the powder form. This work highlights the great potential of thiophene-based 2D PAVs as candidates for high-performance opto-electronics.     

π-Depletion as a criterion to predict π-stacking ability

The screening of molecular targets benefits from design criteria, which can identify the most promising candidates. We demonstrate that π-depleted polyaromatic molecules present superior π-stacking ability. This realization is quantified using a computational criterion, LOLIPOP, that detects ideal π-conjugated frameworks. The utility of LOLIPOP is illustrated by identifying tailored chemosensors.     

Cycloparaphenylene and their radicals anchored to a metal−organic framework

Cycloparaphenylene (CPP) shows modulated photophysical and electronic properties due to its strained structure and radially oriented π-electron system. Incorporation of CPP into metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) could transfer its extensive properties in solution to porous solids. Moreover, with the unique arrangement of the macrocycles and their interactions with the framework, emerging characteristics are anticipated. As an example of “robust dynamics”, we synthesized the first MOF structure (FDM-1001) with CPP precisely anchored to the ordered framework by employing a [8]CPP-containing linear dicarboxylate linker. Metric relationship between the dynamic macrocycles and the robust backbone creates ideal π-π interactions between them, which leads to an essentially directional arrangement of [8]CPP in the three-dimensional space. Furthermore, the MOF with [8]CPP could be successfully oxidized to generate an infinite array of radicals that show enhanced air stability compared to its molecular analogue.     

Isolation and Reactivity of Homoleptic Diphosphene Lead Complexes

Due to their limited capacity for π-backdonation, isolation of π-complexes of main-group elements remains a great challenge. We report herein the synthesis of a homoleptic diphosphene lead complex ( 2 ) from the degradation of P₄ with a bis(germylene)-stabilized Pb(0) complex. Structural and computational studies showed that 2 possesses significant π bonding interactions between Pb atom and diphosphene ligands, which is reminiscent of transition-metal diphosphene complexes. Consistent with its unique electronic structure, complex 2 can deliver Pb(0) atoms to perform redox reaction with an iminoquinone to produce a cyclic plumbylene ( 4 ) and perform 2,5-dimethyl-3,4-dimethylimidazol-1-ylidene (IMe₂Me₂) induced phosphorus cation abstraction to give an anionic PbP₃ complex ( 6 ).     

Quantum-Chemical Study of Electronic Structure and Reactivity of Diphospha-1,3-Butadienes

Abstract

Quantum-chemical calculations of the electronic structure of 1,3-, 1,4- and 2,3-diphospha-1,3-butadienes (DPB) and their derivatives with different substituents were performed. The MNDO method was used to describe the electronic structure of phosphaalkenes. The frontier orbitals of all unsubstituted DPB are of π-type. The highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) is delocalized through both double phosphorus-carbon bonds; the next occupied MO is a combination of two phosphorus lone pairs (n-MO). The HOMO of 2,3-DPB differs markedly from those of 1,3- and 1,4-isomers: the contributions of phosphorus and carbon p-orbitals are nearly equal, and the energy gap between HOMO and n-MO is very small (0.008 eV). The introduction of the electron-withdrawing substituents results in the reverse order of these MO's. In contrast with 1,3- and 1,4-isomers, the double bonds of 2,3-DPB are almost non-polar. Effect of substituents upon the electron density distribution are considered. The results indicate that orbitally controlled 1,4-additions should be characteristic for the derivatives of 1,3- and 1,4-DPB, similar to 1,3-butadiene. In case of 2,3-DPB, tendency to 1,4-addition should be lower; for its derivatives the reaction type depends greatly upon the electronic effects of substituents. In particular, reactions involving phosphorus lone pairs should be typical for the derivatives of 2,3-DPB with electron-withdrawing substituents.     

Effect on the aromaticity of heterocyclic ligands by coordination with ruthenium electron-withdrawing metal centers

Density functional theory calculations of polypyridyl ruthenium complexes with polyaromatic ligands have been performed to understand the metal fragment effect on the modulation of their electronic properties and the influence on the aromatic character. The change of positions of the nitrogen atoms in the ligand structure, as well as the metal moiety, seems to influence the electronic behavior of the π-extended structure and the aromatic character of the complexes at both the ground and excited states. In this framework, structural, electronic, and magnetic-based aromaticity indices were used to understand the aromaticity of the free and coordinated ligands. The aromaticity character of the ligands is highly influenced by the metal fragment, and the aromaticity/antiaromaticity is achieved according to both the electron-withdrawing capability of the ligand and the metal fragment. The electronic distribution observed on the aromatic ligand determines their π-stacking ability; thus, it is proposed that the control of the π-stacking ability is modulated according to the electronic nature of the ruthenium moiety.