Two-photon absorption chromophores with a tunable [2,2′]bithiophene core

Sonogashira coupling between 3,5,3′,5′-tetrabromo-[2,2′]bithiophene and various terminal alkynes provides two-photon absorption (TPA) chromophores 1-6, which possess electron donor (D) and/or acceptor (A) alkynyl substituents at 3(3′) and 5(5′) sites of the bithiophene core. The up-converted fluorescence emission excited at 800 nm (Ti:sapphire femtosecond laser, ∼100 fs pulses) was used to determine the two-photon absorption cross-sections (σ) of these compounds. The corresponding TPA cross-section (σ) values ranging from 132 to 1120 GM (10⁻⁵⁰ cm⁴ s photon⁻¹) can be fine-tuned by the substitutents. The quadrupolar-type (A-π-D-π-A) chromophore 5 exhibits the largest σ value (1120 GM) in CH₂Cl₂ upon 800 nm excitation.     

C-N coupling of 3-methylcatechol with primary amines using native and recombinant laccases from Trametes versicolor and Pycnoporus cinnabarinus

Five laccase genes from Pycnoporus cinnabarinus and Trametes versicolor encoding for different isoenzymes have been cloned, recombinantly expressed and characterized. Following C-N coupling of primary linear, branched-chained and cyclic amines to 3-methylcatechol was mediated by native and recombinant laccases yielding the corresponding secondary amines. Formation of C5-monoaminated ortho-methylquinones occurred within 1-2 h; prolonged incubation led to the formation of high-molecular mass products. No difference between the use of native or recombinant isoenzymes from P. cinnabarinus or T. versicolor was observed. Optimization of the reaction conditions included variation of amine donor ratios, pH, amount and type of enzyme preparations. The formation of by-products could be suppressed at pH values corresponding to the enzymes optima (pH 4-5). A total of 10 secondary amines were synthesized with product formations of up to 80%. Furthermore, all purified secondary amines were characterized by NMR-, LC-MS- and HRMS-analysis and log P values were determined.     

Synthesis of dihydroxyoligophenylenes containing π-deficient or π-excess hetero-aromatic rings and their solvatochromic behavior

Dihydroxyoligophenylenes (HO-ArPh(m)-OHs) with 9,9-dihexyl-2,7-fluorene (Ar=Flu), 2,5-dioctyloxy-1,4-benzene (Ar=Dob), pyridine (Ar=Py), or thiophene (Ar=Th) rings were synthesized by the Suzuki coupling reaction. Absorption maxima (λ_max) of HO-ArPh(m)-OHs shifted progressively toward long wavelengths due to the expansion of the π-conjugation system with an increase in the number of benzene rings. Deprotonation of the OH groups of HO-ArPh(m)-OHs by treatment with NaH caused a bathochromic shift of λ_max. The bathochromic shift of the deprotonated species increased with the donor numbers (DNs) of the solvents. The emission peak positions of NaO-ArPh(m)-ONas depended on the DNs of the solvents; therefore, the emission color could be tuned by changing the solvent.     

Enthalpimetric measurements in solid—solid reactions. The formation of intermolecular charge-transfer complexes

The possibility of obtaining thermodynamic parameters from solid—solid interaction reactions in the formation of charge-transfer (CT) complexes has been studied carrying out the syntheses directly in a DSC apparatus. The interactions between the donor p-bromophenol and the acceptors p-benzoquinone, chloranyl and bromanyl have been considered. It was observed that the solid—solid interaction occurs only for the system p-bromophenol:p-benzoquinone; for the system p-bromophenol:bromanyl the reaction occurs in the molten donor; the acceptor chloranyl does not react.     

Molecular complexes of quinones: I. π-π complexes of p-chloranil with benzene and its derivatives

The relation between the position of the charge transfer band of molecular complexes formed by p-chloranil with benzene derivatives and ionization potentials of the donor molecule was analyzed. Electronic absorption spectra of p-chloranil complexes with donor molecules possessing degenerate molecular orbitals were examined. Unlike complexes with other acceptors, such as 1,3,5-trinitrobenzene and 1,3-dinitrobenzenea, molecular complexes of p-chloranil with analogous donors were classed within a single group.     

Charge-transfer complexes of meso-substituted porphines

Charge-transfer (CT) complexes of 5,10,15,20-tetramethyl-21H,23H-porphine [H₂(tmp)] and 5,10,15,20-tetraphenyl-21H,23H-porphine [H₂(tpp)] have been prepared with TCNQ-type (TCNQ = 7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane) acceptors. The complexes crystallize in a mixed-stacked structure. The electronic state of the complexes has been investigated by combining structural geometry information of the acceptors with vibrational spectroscopy data. The complexes were found to possess neutral ground states. The difference between the donor oxidation potential and the acceptor reduction potential (ΔE) also supports this designation of their electronic states. The CT absorption energy shows a linear correlation with ΔE, which is expected for CT complexes in their neutral ground states. The frontier orbitals of the porphyrin donor that participate in the CT interactions have been examined by calculating the overlap integral between the donor occupied molecular orbitals and acceptor LUMO in the complexes. In the H₂(tmp) and H₂(tpp) complexes, a_2u- and a_1u-type porphyrin HOMO and next-HOMO, respectively, are suggested to both be contributors to the establishment of π–π* CT interactions and formation of the complex.     

Experimental investigation of excited state electron transfer reactions between some bicyclic molecules and tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ)

Investigations on photoinduced electron transfer (ET) reactions between excited (ground) bicyclic electron donors 5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-2-naphthol (TH2N), 2-methoxy-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro naphthalene (2MTHN) and ground state (excited) acceptor tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) in fluid solutions of different polarity at the ambient temperature (300 K) by electronic absorption, steady state fluorescence and time-resolved spectroscopic methods in the time domain of nanosecond order have been carried out. It is suggested that in highly polar solvent acetonitrile (ACN), a loosely-structured transient geminate ion-pair complex (GIP) in the excited singlet state (S₁) is formed due to the ET encounter between the present donor TH2N or 2MTHN and TCNQ and this GIP complex rapidly dissociates into stable excited radical ions, as evidenced from steady state spectra. In polar DMF solvents, TCNQ exhibits an electronic absorption band of its anion without the presence of donor molecules. Both steady state and time-resolved data indicate that ET reactions between the present donors and acceptor TCNQ are largely impeded in the less polar solvent tetrahydrofuran (THF). In the highly polar solvent ACN, ET reactions between the donors and acceptor TCNQ have been suggested to be of adiabatic or intermediate between adiabatic and non-adiabatic types, from the observation of radical ion species in the electronic excited state. For some bicyclic donors and TCNQ acceptor systems, large negative ΔG, which is a measure of the gap between locally excited and radical ion-pair states, shows reaction occurs in highly exothermic regions. Further observations of −ΔG>λ, nuclear reorganization energy parameters and the decrement of ET rate (k_ET) with increasing exothermicity (more negative ΔG values) suggest the ET reaction for the bicyclic donor—TCNQ acceptor systems studied in the present investigation might occur in the Marcus inverted region. The possibility of building up efficient photoconducting materials with the present donor acceptor systems is suggested.     

Charge-transfer spectra of organometallic complexes—VII. Electron—donor—acceptor complexation of trialkyltinisothiocyanates with iodine and tetracyanoethylene

An ultraviolet-visible study of the charge-transfer interaction between R₃ SnNCS (R  Me, Et, iPr and nBu) and iodine, respectively, tetracyanoethylene has revealed that the HOMO with dominant lone pair character located on S is the preferred donor site in the electron—donor—acceptor (EDA) complexes. Formation constants of the complexes were calculated using a non-linear regression analysis of the u.v.-vis. data.     

Pyrazine-N,N′-dioxide/tetracyanoethylene electron donor-acceptor bonding and the effect of donor steric demand and symmetry on the cocrystal assembly

The synthesis of a sterically hindered pyrazine dioxide electron donor (2,5-diethyl-3,6-dimethylpyrazine-N,N′-dioxide) and its cocrystallization with tetracyanoethylene (TCNE) are reported. The resulting DA assembly in the cocrystal is compared to that observed for a smaller pyrazine-N-oxide donor. Increased steric demand and lower donor symmetry yield a new, more complex two-dimensional DA assembly with slightly longer DA bonds and higher TCNE content in the cocrystal.     

Investigation of excited state electron-transfer reactions. A search for other associative processes

The present investigations were carried out to reveal the nature of the photoinduced electron-transfer (ET) process within the electron donors 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoline (THQ) and 1-methyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoline (THMe), and widely used acceptor tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) in the highly polar solvent acetonitrile (ACN) at 300 K. Observations of considerable overlapping between the emission spectrum of the donor molecules studied in the present investigation and the electronic absorption spectrum of the acceptor TCNQ, coupled to a high negative value of ΔG [the energy gap between the locally excited (LE) and radical ion pair (RIP) states] when one of the chromophores is excited, indicate the possibility of concurrent occurrence of the two processes, e.g. energy and electron transfer. Surprisingly even when the donor chromophore is photoexcited, no spectral manifestation of energy transfer was observed, though both steady state and time resolved (in the time domain of nanosecond order) spectroscopic measurements strongly suggest the occurrence of a highly exothermic ET reaction within the present donor—acceptor systems. Furthermore such ET reactions have been suggested to occur between donor and acceptor separated by a large distance ( ∼ 7 Å), and quenching of fluorescence emission of donor molecules is caused primarily due to outer sphere ET reactions with the acceptor. Measured electron transfer rates (k_ET) were found to be of much lower value ( ∼ 10⁷s⁻¹). It is demonstrated that loose structure of the transient geminate ion pair complex is formed due to the encounter between excited acceptor (or donor) and unexcited donor (or acceptor), and due to this structural property, a stable anionic species (TCNQ⁻ ion) is produced due to the rapid dissociation (probably in the picosecond time domain) of this excited complex. It is hinted that synthesis of biochromophoric systems in which the present donor and acceptor chromophore would be linked by a polymethylene type (σ-type) spacer might be useful in building good photoconducting materials.     

Spectroscopic studies of multiple charge transfer complexes of p-toluidine with π-acceptor picric acid in different polar solvents

The charge transfer complexes of the donor p-toluidine with π-acceptor picric acid have been studied spectrophotometrically in various solvents such as acetone, ethanol, and methanol at room temperature using absorption spectrophotometer. The results indicate that formation of CTC in less polar solvent is high. The stoichiometry of the complex was found to be 1: 1 ratio by straight line method between donor and acceptor with maximum absorption bands. The data are discussed in terms of formation constant (K _CT), molar extinction coefficient (?_CT), standard free energy (ΔG°), oscillator strength (f), transition dipole moment (μ_EN), resonance energy (R _N) and ionization potential (I _D). The results indicate that the formation constant (K _CT) for the complex were shown to be dependent upon the nature of electron acceptor, donor and polarity of solvents which were used.     

Spectrophotometric and spectroscopic studies of charge transfer complexes of p-toluidine as an electron donor with picric acid as an electron acceptor in different solvents

The charge transfer complexes of the donor p-toluidine with π-acceptor picric acid have been studied spectrophotometrically in various solvents such as carbon tetrachloride, chloroform, dichloromethane acetone, ethanol, and methanol at room temperature using absorption spectrophotometer. The results indicate that formation of CTC in non-polar solvent is high. The stoichiometry of the complex was found to be 1:1 ratio by straight-line method between donor and acceptor with maximum absorption bands. The data are discussed in terms of formation constant (K_CT), molar extinction coefficient (?_CT), standard free energy (ΔG^o), oscillator strength (f), transition dipole moment (μ_EN), resonance energy (R_N) and ionization potential (I_D). The results indicate that the formation constant (K_CT) for the complex was shown to be dependent upon the nature of electron acceptor, donor and polarity of solvents that were used.     

Far-i.r. spectra of charge-transfer complexes between IX (X = Cl,Br) and some pyridine and quinoline bases

Far-i.r. spectra of charge-transfer (CT) complexes of IX (X = Cl, Br) with pyridine, quinoline and their derivatives have been measured in solids. Assignments for the intermolecular NI stretching and the modified IX stretching vibrations are proposed. The force constants for these vibrations have been calculated assuming a linear triatomic model, putting a donor molecule as a point mass. The relationship between the relative decrease in the IX stretching force constants and the pK_a values of donor molecules is discussed.     

Orientation and dynamics of donor molecules in the CT-crystal naphthalene-TCNB

Triplet probes are used to study the orientation and dynamics of the donor molecules in the CT-crystal naphthalene-TCNB. The orientational phase transition at 63 K is observed from a drastic chance in the line width of the ESR spectra. In the low temperature phase two different naphthalene orientations are detected that are related by rotations about the stack axis c through an angle of 37° and about the long molecular axis x by 20°. In the high temperature phase a thermally activated hopping between these two orientations is established. The measured hopping frequencies and activation energies (ΔE = 420 cm^?1) of the guest donor anthracene are compared with those determined from NMR measurements for the host donors.     

Novel bifluorene based conjugated systems: synthesis and properties

A series of novel bifluorene based systems was synthesised by a convergent approach by means of a Suzuki cross-coupling between 7,7′-bis-(4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-[1,3,2]dioxaborolan-2-yl)-9,9,9′,9′-tetraoctyl-2,2′-bifluorene and suitable aryl-bromides. All the oligomers have been characterized by ¹H, ¹³C NMR, FT-IR, UV-vis, PL spectroscopy and mass analyses. In particular, it has been demonstrated that the presence of strong electron donor (amines) or withdrawing (carboxylic esters) groups causes a bathochromic shift of the optical properties with respect to those of unsubstituted molecules. The effects of these functional groups on the HOMO-LUMO energy levels were investigated by cyclic voltammetry. Remarkably, the LUMO energy level of 7,7′-bis-[5′-carbodecaoxy-2,2′-bithiophen-5-yl]-9,9,9′,9′-tetraoctyl-2,2′-bifluorene (−3.07 eV) is strongly influenced by the presence of the ester functional group.     

Influence of Electron Donating Ability on Reverse Intersystem Crossing Rate for One Kind of Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Molecules

First-principles calculations are applied for investigating influence of electron donating ability of donor groups in eight thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) molecules on their geometrical structures and transition properties as well as reverse intersystem crossing (RISC) processes. Results show that the diphenylamine substitution in the donor part can slightly change the bond angle but decrease bond length between donor and acceptor unit except for the lowest triplet state (T\begin{document}$_1$\end{document}) of carbazole-xanthone molecule. As the electron donating ability of donor groups is increased, the overlap between the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) is decreased. As the diphenylamine groups are added in donor part, the delocalization of HOMO is enlarged, which brings a decreased energy gap (\begin{document}$\Delta E$\end{document}\begin{document}$_{\text{S}_1\text{-T}_1}$\end{document}) between the lowest singlet excited state (S\begin{document}$_1$\end{document}) and T\begin{document}$_1$\end{document} state. Furthermore, with the calculated spin-orbit coupling coefficient (\begin{document}$H_{\text{so}}$\end{document}), one finds that the larger value of \begin{document}$\displaystyle{\frac{\langle S_1|\hat{H}_{\text{so}}|{T}_1\rangle^2}{\Delta E_{\text{S}_1\text{-T}_1}^2}}$\end{document} is, the faster the RISC is. The results show that all investigated molecules are promising candidates as TADF molecules. Overall, a wise molecular design strategy for TADF molecules, in which a small \begin{document}$\Delta E_{\text{S}_1\text{-T}_1}$\end{document} can be achieved by enlarging the delocalization of frontier molecular orbitals with large separation between HOMO and LUMO, is proposed.     

Magnetic perturbation of the redox potentials of localized and delocalized mixed-valence complexes

The potential differences (ΔE) between the two one-electron events observed for symmetrical mixed-valence (MV) complexes is generally used as a measurement of the thermodynamic stability of the MV state and often extended to the evaluation of the strength of the coupling between the redox centers through the bridge. In this review article, selected examples illustrate how the ΔE values to assess the degree of electronic communication between metals must be approached very judiciously. The role of the magnetic exchange which can take place between the unpaired spins carried by the redox sites in the doubly oxidized complexes is emphasized.     

Theoretical investigation of charge transfer excitation and charge recombination in acenaphthylene–tetracyanoethylene complex

Ab initio calculations were performed to investigate the charge separation and charge recombination processes in the photoinduced electron transfer reaction between tetracyanoethylene and acenaphthylene. The excited states of the charge‐balanced electron donor–acceptor complex and the singlet state of ion pair complex were studied by employing configuration interaction singles method. The equilibrium geometry of electron donor–acceptor complex was obtained by the second‐order Møller–Plesset method, with the interaction energy corrected by the counterpoise method. The theoretical study of ground state and excited states of electron donor–acceptor complex in this work reveals that the S₁ and S₂ states of the electron donor–acceptor complexes are excited charge transfer states, and charge transfer absorptions that corresponds to the S₀ → S₁ and S₀ → S₂ transitions arise from π–π* excitations. The charge recombination in the ion pair complex will produce the charge‐balanced ground state or excited triplet state. According to the generalized Mulliken–Hush model, the electron coupling matrix elements of the charge separation process and the charge recombination process were obtained. Based on the continuum model, charge transfer absorption and charge transfer emission in the polar solvent of 1,2‐dichloroethane were investigated. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem 94: 23–35, 2003     

α:β Selectivity in the synthesis of 3-substituted, 4-methyl umbelliferone glycosides of N-acetyl glucosamine and chitobiose

The influence of phenolic acceptor nucleophilicity; for example, 3-substituted, 4-methylumbelliferones, and glycosyl donor electrophilicity; for example, 3- and 4-substituted N-acetylglucosamines, on glycosylation stereochemistry has been evaluated. In a systematic comparison, the stereochemical outcome as well as the reaction yield appeared to be influenced by the 3- and 4-substituents of the donor as well as the 3-substituent of the aryl acceptor. In the context of synthesizing a fluorogenic substrate for oligosaccharyltransferase, an α-glycoside was desired. Although most acceptor–donor pairs led to predominantly or exclusively the β-glycoside, reaction of the most activated (3,4-di-O-benzyl) donor and the least nucleophilic acceptor (3-Br), resulted in a 1:1 ratio of α,β arylglycosides.     

Syntheses,Crystal Structures and Ligand Field Properties of Iron(II) Complexes with PNP Ligands: Origin of Large Ligand Field by a Phosphorous Donor Atom

New iron(II) complexes were synthesized with two tridentate hybrid ligands having phosphorous and nitrogen donor sites, in order to quantitatively estimate the difference of the ligand-field strengths of phosphorous and nitrogen donor sites in cationic metal complexes. Iron(II) complexes with bis(dimethylphosphinoethyl)amine (PNP) and 2,6-bis(diphenylphosphinomethyl)pyridine (PpyP) ligands crystallized as un-symmetric facial-[Fe(PNP)₂](PF₆)₂·CH₃NO₂ and mer-[Fe(PpyP)₂](CF₃SO₃)₂, respectively, as expected from the steric congestion and from the tendency to avoid the mutual trans influence between two phosphorous donor sites. Both complexes are in the low-spin electronic state up to 400 K. The pseudo-D _4h coordination geometry of the PpyP complex made it possible to separate axial (2 × N) and equatorial (4 × P) contributions to the overall ligand-field by means of a spectrometric method: the difference in the ligand-field strengths by the equatorial Ph₂P-donor sites and by the axial 2,6-disubstituted pyridine donor sites is ca. 13,200 cm^?1. A significantly reduced inter-electronic repulsion parameter (425 cm^?1 for both PNP and PpyP complexes) from the value of the free ion (1,060 cm^?1) indicates covalent interaction between the Fe(II) and P atoms even in these cationic metal complexes. It is shown that the degree of covalency as well as the coordination bond strengths between various metal ions and phosphorous/nitrogen donor atoms is successfully explained by the relative energy levels of interacting atomic orbitals calculated on the basis of the Thomas–Fermi–Dirac potential.