Scholl reaction of hexaphenylbenzenes with hexakis-alkoxy substituents

The hexakis-alkoxy substituted hexa-peri-hexabenzocoronene (HBC) discotic core is desirable aiming at strong π–π interactions in columns, electronic tuning of the core and better processability. The feasibility of synthesising a new hexakis-alkoxy substituted HBC core is investigated and described in this report. Experimentally, it has been found that when two alkoxy substituents in a peripheral aromatic ring are placed meta to each other, the Scholl reaction results in fully cyclised HBC product. Surprisingly, when the alkoxy groups are ortho to each other, cyclodehydrogenation results in the formation of a partially fused product. This partially-fused ring formation happens under varying reaction conditions and irrespective of the differing alkyl chain lengths. Most plausibly, the considerable strain in the fully fused molecule from 1,2 isomer is the reason to cease the reaction at the partially fused stage. Further quantum-mechanical calculations at the B3LYP/6-31G(d) level of theory also support the hypothesis. The incorporation of two electron donating groups has also reduced the band gap compared to its mono alkoxy analogue. Reduced band gap values are promising feature of these molecules for finding future applications of discotic liquid crystals in organic electronics.     

Exfoliation of Graphite into Graphene in Polar Solvents Mediated by Amphiphilic Hexa‐peri‐hexabenzocoronene

A water‐soluble surfactant consisting of hexa‐peri‐hexabenzocoronene (HBC) as hydrophobic aromatic core and hydrophilic carboxy substituents was synthesized. It exhibited a self‐assembled nanofiber structure in the solid state. Profiting from the π interactions between the large aromatic core of HBC and graphene, the surfactant mediated the exfoliation of graphite into graphene in polar solvents, which was further stabilized by the bulky hydrophilic carboxylic groups. A graphene dispersion with a concentration as high as 1.1 mg L^?1 containing 2–6 multilayer nanosheets was obtained. The lateral size of the graphene sheets was in the range of 100–500 nm based on atomic force microscope (AFM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) measurements.     

Synthesis and controlled self-assembly of covalently linked hexa-peri-hexabenzocoronene/perylene diimide dyads as models to study fundamental energy and electron transfer processes

We report the synthesis and photophysical characterization of a series of hexa-peri-hexabenzocoronene (HBC)/perylenetetracarboxy diimide (PDI) dyads that are covalently linked with a rigid bridge. Both the ratio of the two components and the conjugation of the bridging element are systematically modified to study the influence on self-assembly and energy and electron transfer between electron donor HBC and acceptor PDI. STM and 2D-WAXS experiments reveal that both in solution and in bulk solid state the dyads assemble into well-ordered two-dimensional supramolecular structures with controllable mutual orientations and distances between donor and acceptor at a nanoscopic scale. Depending on the symmetry of the dyads, either columns with nanosegregated stacks of HBC and PDI or interdigitating networks with alternating HBC and PDI moieties are observed. UV-vis, photoluminescence, transient photoluminescence, and transient absorption spectroscopy confirm that after photoexcitation of the donor HBC a photoinduced electron transfer between HBC and PDI can only compete with the dominant F?rster resonance energy transfer, if facilitated by an intimate stacking of HBC and PDI with sufficient orbital overlap. However, while the alternating stacks allow efficient electron transfer, only the nanosegregated stacks provide charge transport channels in bulk state that are a prerequisite for application as active components in thin film electronic devices. These results have important implications for the further design of functional donor-acceptor dyads, being promising materials for organic bulk heterojunction solar cells and field-effect transistors.     

PAMAM修饰的六苯并蔻衍生物的合成及其光物理研究

设计合成了外围以0.5、1.5、2.5代聚酰胺-胺(PAMAM)树枝形聚合物修饰的六苯并蔻衍生物HBC-C₆-PAMAM-D_m(m=0.5, 1.5, 2.5), 化合物结构通过了¹HNMR、¹³CNMR、IR和MS的表征.测定了HBC-C₆-PAMAM-D_m在四氢呋喃、乙腈和二氯甲烷中的吸收和荧光发射光谱, 三种溶剂中不同代数的HBC-C₆-PAMAM-D_m均以聚集态形式存在,外围树枝形聚合物骨架与核心HBC发色团的振动耦合作用随代数增加而增强,导致HBC振动能级不均化,引起吸收和荧光光谱发生变化.     

QSAR model for alignment-free prediction of human breast cancer biomarkers based on electrostatic potentials of protein pseudofolding HP-lattice networks

Network theory allows relationships to be established between numerical parameters that describe the molecular structure of genes and proteins and their biological properties. These models can be considered as quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSAR) for biopolymers. The work described here concerns the first QSAR model for 122 proteins that are associated with human breast cancer (HBC), as identified experimentally by Sj?blom et al. (Science 2006, 314, 268) from over 10,000 human proteins. In this study, the 122 proteins related to HBC (HBCp) and a control group of 200 proteins that are not related to HBC (non-HBCp) were forced to fold in an HP lattice network. From these networks a series of electrostatic potential parameters (xi(k)) was calculated to describe each protein numerically. The use of xi(k) as an entry point to linear discriminant analysis led to a QSAR model to discriminate between HBCp and non-HBCp, and this model could help to predict the involvement of a certain gene and/or protein in HBC. In addition, validation procedures were carried out on the model and these included an external prediction series and evaluation of an additional series of 1000 non-HBCp. In all cases good levels of classification were obtained with values above 80%. This study represents the first example of a QSAR model for the computational chemistry inspired search of potential HBC protein biomarkers.     

Oligomers of hexa-peri-hexabenzocoronenes as "super-oligophenylenes": synthesis, electronic properties, and self-assembly

Hexa-peri-hexabenzocoronene (HBC) is a remarkable polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon and is often called "superbenzene" because of its similarity to benzene. In this article we present the facile synthesis of oligomers of HBC, up to trimers (3, 4, 5a-c) with different modes of connection. UV-vis and fluorescence spectroscopy studies reveal that the oligomers are electronically decoupled. This arises from the small atomic orbital coefficients of the bridge-head carbon atoms, the large torsion angle between the HBC units, and the large distance of interacting transition dipoles due to the size of the HBC chromophore. For comparison, a methylene-bridged HBC dimer 6, so-called "superfluorene", was prepared. The induced planarity improves pi-conjugation and suppresses the geometrical relaxation of the backbone upon electronic excitation, leading to a prominent 0-0 transition band in the fluorescence spectra. The self-assembly of the oligomers and of superfluorene 6 was studied by wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) in the bulk state, and ordered columnar stacking occurs in the HBC dimer 3, p-HBC trimer 4, and superfluorene 6. Measurements of shear-aligned samples show that, despite increasing aspects ratio by linear entrainment of disks, the anitropic element that is subject to alignment by shear is the supramolecular columns.     

Transport properties of two‐dimensionally fused zinc porphyrins from linear‐response approach

Transport properties, temperature‐dependent phonon‐limited electrical and thermal resistivities in the normal state of two‐dimensionally (2D) infinite‐fused zinc porphyrin with a directly meso‐meso‐, β‐β‐, and β‐β‐linked array structure ZnP _∞ were theoretically calculated using linear‐response approach based on density functional theory (DFT). The calculated transport electron–phonon coupling (EPC) constant using the density functional perturbation theory (DFPT) shows almost equal to the superconducting EPC constant, which is the similar situation within a difference by ca. 10% between them for the transition metals. The calculated electrical and thermal resistivities at 300 K obtained by solving the Boltzmann equation within the lowest‐order variational approximation (LOVA) are only larger by one digit than those of the reference metal Al, expecting to become a fantastic 2D synthetic metal without an injection of conductive carriers from outside, e.g., by doping. The calculated results for the 2D infinite‐fused lithium porphyrin LiP _∞ with the same ground state as the one‐electron oxidative state of ZnP _∞ were also discussed for comparison. This simple approach using the first applied plane‐wave ultrasoft pseudopotentials (US‐PPs) is a usable technique for the prediction of the transport properties of simple metallic materials within the practical temperature range. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2011     

Exploring the Electronic Structure of an Organic Semiconductor Based on a Compactly Fused Electron Donor–Acceptor Molecule

A Mott‐type semiconductor based on a compactly fused and partially oxidized electron donor–acceptor (D–A) molecule was recently prepared and identified to exhibit a large room‐temperature conductivity of 2 S cm^?1. In a marked contrast to the organic conductors characterized by relatively well decoupled and segregated uniform stacks of D and A moieties, the formally half‐oxidized tetrathiafulvalene donors of the actual compound are organized in columnar π stacks only, whereby the coplanar electron‐acceptor units, namely benzothiadiazole, are closely annulated along their ridges. Herein, we present a theoretical study that explores the electronic structure of this novel type of organic semiconductor. The highly symmetric‐solid state material behaves as a one‐dimensional electronic system with strong antiferromagnetic interactions (coupling constant>200 cm^?1). The unique shape and local dipole of this redox‐active fused electron D–A molecule lays the basis for further investigations of the collective electronic structure, mainly in the function of different counterions embedded in the crystalline lattice.     

Metal bacteriochlorins which act as dual singlet oxygen and superoxide generators

A series of stable free-base, Zn(II) and Pd(II) bacteriochlorins containing a fused six- or five-member diketo- or imide ring have been synthesized as good candidates for photodynamic therapy sensitizers, and their electrochemical, photophysical, and photochemical properties were examined. Photoexcitation of the palladium bacteriochlorin affords the triplet excited state without fluorescence emission, resulting in formation of singlet oxygen with a high quantum yield due to the heavy atom effect of palladium. Electrochemical studies revealed that the zinc bacteriochlorin has the smallest HOMO-LUMO gap of the investigated compounds, and this value is significantly lower than the triplet excited-state energy of the compound in benzonitrile. Such a small HOMO-LUMO gap of the zinc bacteriochlorin enables intermolecular photoinduced electron transfer from the triplet excited state to the ground state to produce both the radical cation and the radical anion. The radical anion thus produced can transfer an electron to molecular oxygen to produce superoxide anion which was detected by electron spin resonance. The same photosensitizer can also act as an efficient singlet oxygen generator. Thus, the same zinc bacteriochlorin can function as a sensitizer with a dual role in that it produces both singlet oxygen and superoxide anion in an aprotic solvent (benzonitrile).     

Multiple-Porphyrin Functionalized Hexabenzocoronenes

Porphyrin–hexabenzocoronene architectures serve as good model compounds to study light-harvesting systems. Herein, the synthesis of porphyrin functionalized hexa-peri-hexabenzocoronenes (HBCs), in which one or more porphyrins are covalently linked to a central HBC core, is presented. A series of hexaphenylbenzenes (HPBs) was prepared and reacted under oxidative coupling conditions. The transformation to the respective HBC derivatives worked well with mono- and tri-porphyrin-substituted HPBs. However, if more porphyrins are attached to the HPB core, Scholl oxidations are hampered or completely suppressed. Hence, a change of the synthetic strategy was necessary to first preform the HBC core, followed by the introduction of the porphyrins. All products were fully characterized, including, if possible, single-crystal XRD. UV/Vis absorption spectra of porphyrin-HBCs showed, depending on the number of porphyrins as well as with respect to the substitution pattern, variations in their spectral features with strong distortions of the porphyrins’ B-band.     

Thiophene‐Fused‐Heteroaromatic Diones as Promising NIR Reflectors for Radiative Cooling

Developing appropriate NIR‐reflective materials to combat near–infrared (NIR) heat radiation (700–2500 nm) from sunlight, avoiding energy accumulation and reduce energy consumption, is important and highly desirable. In this research, four thiophene‐fused‐heteroaromatic diones were used as basic reflectors to investigate the relationship between their intrinsic molecular structures and NIR‐reflective properties. The reflectance intensity can be readily tuned by adjusting the length of the appended aliphatic side chains, as well as the strength of the electron‐donating groups. A methoxy‐substituted thiophene‐fused‐heteroaromatic dione showed the best performance in reflecting NIR, and it was used as a coating for a model glass house. The comparison of the internal temperature difference relative to a control house was measured and the maximum temperature was 12 °C lower than that in the control house.     

Incorporation of Hexa‐peri‐hexabenzocoronene (HBC) into Carbazole–Benzo‐2,1,3‐thiadiazole Copolymers to Improve Hole Mobility and Photovoltaic Performance

Hexa‐peri‐hexabenzocoronene (HBC) is a discotic‐shaped conjugated molecule with strong π–π stacking property, high intrinsic charge mobility, and good self‐assembly properties. For a long time, however, organic photovoltaic (OPV) solar cells based on HBC demonstrated low power conversion efficiencies (PCEs). In this study, two conjugated terpolymers, poly[N‐9′‐heptadecanyl‐2,7‐carbazole‐alt‐5,5′‐(4′,7′‐di‐2‐thienyl‐2′,1′,3′‐benzothiadiazole)] (PCDTBT)‐ 5 HBC and PCDTBT‐ 10 HBC, were synthesized by incorporating different amounts of HBC as the third component into poly[N‐9′‐heptadecanyl‐2,7‐carbazole‐alt‐5,5′‐(4′,7′‐di‐2‐thienyl‐2′,1′,3′‐benzothiadiazole)] (PCDTBT) through Suzuki coupling polymerization. For comparison, the donor–acceptor (D –A) conjugated dipolymer PCDTBT was also synthesized to investigate the effect of HBC units on conjugated polymers. The HBC‐containing polymers exhibited higher thermal stabilities, broader absorption spectra, and lower highest‐occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy levels. In particular, the field‐effect mobilities were enhanced by more than one order of magnitude after the incorporation of HBC into the conjugated polymer backbone on account of increased interchain π–π stacking interactions. The bulk heterojunction (BHJ) polymer solar cells (PSCs) fabricated with the polymers as donor and PC₇₁BM as acceptor demonstrated gradual improvement of open‐circuit voltage (V_OC) and short‐circuit current (J_SC) with the increase in HBC content. As a result, the PCEs were improved from 3.21 % for PCDTBT to 3.78 % for PCDTBT‐ 5 HBC and then to 4.20 % for PCDTBT‐ 10 HBC.     

HCB和HCB-的激发态光谱与态-态转化的理论研究

HCB是最简单的有机硼化合物，理论上已有少量研究，报导了部分激发态及其谐振动频率．关于HCB-及其异构体HBC-的研究未见报导．本文采用精确的量子化学计算方法，对它们的激发态性质、光谱和态一态转化进行了系统的研究，为实验上对这些物质的研究提供了一些有用的信息．计算采用极化的三Zeta基组（TZP）进行基态和激发态的构型优化与振动性质调查各电子态相关能估算应用基于多组态自洽场分子轨道的一级组态相互作用（FOCI／MCSCF）方法．计算过程中，考虑到对称性破裂（symmetrybrealling）的影响同，对存在对称性破裂的体系采用…     

Thioether-Substituted Hexa-peri-hexabenzocoronenes

The synthesis of novel mono-, di-, tri-, tetra-, and hexafluorinated hexa-peri-hexabenzocoronenes (HBCs) and their conversion into their thioether-substituted analogs is reported. The substitution reaction with the corresponding thiolates was performed microwave-assisted to significantly reduce the reaction time. With increasing amount of fluorination or thioether-substituents, a decreasing extinction coefficient can be observed for the HBCs. Successive addition of thioether-moieties leads to a bathochromic shift of the absorption and emission bands, whereas the nature of the attached thioether does not affect the optoelectronical properties. To further tune the electronic environment of the HBC core, a successive oxidation to the corresponding sulfone as well as the formation of the sulfonium salts were performed. With that, the electron-donating thioethers were transformed into electron-withdrawing substituents, resulting in an inversed electron demand in the periphery of the core. The so obtained compounds showed decreased extinction coefficients and a broadening of the absorption and emission bands.     

Heteroleptic Tetrapyrrole‐Fused Dimeric and Trimeric Skeletons with Unusual Non‐Frustrated Fluorescence

Phthalocyanine (Pc) and porphyrin (Por) chromophores have been fused through the benzo[α]pyrazine moiety, resulting in unprecedented heteroleptic tetrapyrrole‐fused dimers and trimers. The heteroleptic tetrapyrrole nature has been clearly revealed based on single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction analysis of the zinc dimer. Electrochemical analysis, theoretical calculations, and time‐resolved spectroscopic results disclose that the two/three‐tetrapyrrole‐fused skeletons behave as one totally π‐conjugated system as a result of the strong conjugative interaction between/among the tetrapyrrole chromophores. In particular, the effectively extended π‐electron system through the fused‐bridge induced strong electronic communication between the Pc and Por moieties and large transition dipole moments in the Pc–Por‐fused systems, providing high fluorescence quantum yields (>0.13) and relatively long excited state lifetimes (>1.3 ns) in comparison with their homo‐tetrapyrrole‐fused analogues.     

High quality dispersions of hexabenzocoronene in organic solvents

We have studied the exfoliation and dispersion of hexabenzocoronene (HBC) in 28 different solvents. We see a wide range of dispersed concentrations and aggregation states, all of which can be related to the solvent properties. To a first approximation, the dispersed concentration is maximized for solvents with Hildebrand solubility parameter close to 21 MPa(1/2), similar to graphitic materials such as nanotubes and graphene. We have also studied the concentration dependence of the absorbance and photoluminescence of HBC for both a good solvent, cyclohexyl pyrrolidone (CHP), and a poor solvent, tetrahydrofuran (THF). In both cases, we observe features that can be associated with either individual molecules or aggregates, allowing us to establish metrics both for aggregate and individual molecule content. While the aggregate content always increases with concentration, good solvents disperse individual molecules at relatively high concentrations while poor solvents display aggregation even at low concentrations. Using these metrics, we determine that large populations of individual molecules are present at low concentrations in certain solvents with Hildebrand solubility parameters close to 21 MPa(1/2). However, the aggregation state of HBC is considerably more sensitive to solvent Hildebrand parameter for halogenated solvents than for amide solvents. We find a combination of high overall concentrations and large populations of individual molecules in four solvents: cyclohexyl pyrrolidone, 1-chloronaphthalene, 1-bromonaphthalene, and 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene. Scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) measurements show the formation of self-assembled monolayers at the interface between a HBC-solvent dispersion and a highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) substrate. Similar structures were observed on ultrathin supports by aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Also observed were graphitic objects of size ~1 nm consistent with monomers or aggregated stacks of very few monomers. We believe this is strong evidence of the presence of individual molecules in dispersions prepared with appropriate solvents.     

Construction of an Internally B3N3‐Doped Nanographene Molecule

The synthesis of a hexa‐peri‐hexabenzocoronene (HBC) with a central borazine core is described. The solid‐state structure of this BN‐doped HBC (BN‐HBC) is isotypic with that of the parent HBC. Scanning tunneling microscopy shows that BN‐HBC lies flat on Au(111) in a two‐dimensional pattern.     

A Three‐Dimensional Capsule‐like Carbon Nanocage as a Segment Model of Capped Zigzag [12,0] Carbon Nanotubes: Synthesis,Characterization, and Complexation with C70

Herein we report the synthesis and photophysical and supramolecular properties of a novel three‐dimensional capsule‐like hexa‐peri‐hexabenzocoronene (HBC)‐containing carbon nanocage, tripodal‐[2]HBC, which is the first synthetic model of capped zigzag [12,0] carbon nanotubes (CNTs). Tripodal‐[2]HBC was synthesized by the palladium‐catalyzed coupling of triboryl hexabenzocoronene and L‐shaped cyclohexane units, followed by nickel‐mediated C−Br/C−Br coupling and subsequent aromatization of the cyclohexane moieties. The physical properties of tripodal‐[2]HBC and its supramolecular host–guest interaction with C₇₀ were further studied by UV/Vis and fluorescence spectroscopy. Theoretical calculations revealed that the strain energy of tripodal‐[2]HBC was as high as 55.2 kcal mol⁻¹.     

Controlled self-assembly of hexa-peri-hexabenzocoronenes in solution

Disc-shaped hexa-peri-hexabenzocoronenes (HBCs) peripherally substituted by flexible dodecyl chains (molecule 1) or rigid polyphenylene dendrons (molecules 2a,b and 3) were efficiently synthesized. Steric hindrance arising from the substituents, from less hindered dodecyl to bulky dendrons, was utilized to program the self-assembly of the HBC cores in solution. The high tendency of the hexadodecyl-substituted HBC 1 to aggregate was determined by concentration and temperature-dependent (1)H NMR spectroscopic measurements and nonlinear least-squares analysis of the experimental data. The rigid dendrons in molecule2a suppress the pi--pi interactions of the HBC cores to a certain extent, and a slow (with respect to the NMR time scale) monomer--dimer equilibrium is observed. This unique equilibrium was further controlled by temperature, concentration, and solvent to afford discrete monomeric or dimeric species. Further structural modifications such as the replacement of dodecyl groups in 2a with hydrogen atoms resulted in a stable dimer structure in 2b due to diminished steric hindrance, as supported by quantum chemical calculations. "Moving" the dendron arms closer to the HBC core gives molecule 3, which exists only as a nonaggregated monomer. UV-vis absorption and fluorescence spectra of these discrete species revealed obvious differences in their electronic and optoelectronic properties which can be explained by the existence or absence of pi--pi interactions.