Molecular layer-by-layer self-assembly of water-soluble perylene diimides through pi-pi and electrostatic interactions

A layer-by-layer deposition process has been carried out for two oppositely charged water-soluble perylene diimide dyes without the use of intervening polyelectrolyte layers. The strong pi-pi interactions between the perylene moieties help stabilize the layers and simultaneously diminish the fluorescence quantum yield of the array without strongly affecting the absorption or fluorescence spectra. There is an alternation of fluorescence intensity according to which perylene species is on the outer layer, which is interpreted as the effect of facile energy transfer between the perylenes.     

Water-soluble perylene diimides: Solution photophysics and layer-by-layer incorporation into polyelectrolyte films

Recently the synthesis of water-soluble and fluorescent perylene diimides has been reported (Müllen, K.; et al. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 2004, 43, 1528; Chem.-Eur. J. 2004, 10, 5297). We have characterized the photophysics of two of these compounds (anionic n-PDI, CAS Reg. No. 694438-88-5. and cationic p-PDI, CAS Reg. No. 817207-4-7) in pure water, dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), and aqueous NaCl. These studies, supported by molecular dynamics simulations, have led to the conclusion that these compounds form weakly interacting aggregated species in pure water. n-PDI and p-PDI have been incorporated in polyelectrolyte films of poly(styrene sulfonate) (PSS) and poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDAC) following the layer-by-layer (LBL) methodology. The optical density and fluorescence intensity of the PDI-LBL films grew linearly with the number of layers, and the PDI was not extracted by subsequent polyelectrolyte deposition. The PDI fluorescence quantum yield was substantially diminished in these films, which we interpret as a self-quenching effect, enhanced by inter- and intralayer energy transfer. Energy-transfer studies to the incorporated cationic dye Brilliant Green (BG) has demonstrated that the BG resides in the same PSS-rich region as p-PDI and is largely excluded from the region that contains n-PDI (PDAC-rich).     

Energy transfer between conjugated polyelectrolytes in layer-by-layer assembled films

We present a study of Fo?rster resonance energy transfer (FRET) between two emissive conjugated polyelectrolytes (CPEs) in layer-by-layer (LbL) self-assembled films as a means of examining their organization and architecture. The two CPEs are a carboxylic acid functionalized polyfluorene (PFl-CO(2)) and thienylene linked poly(phenylene ethynylene) (PPE-Th-CO(2)). The PFl-CO(2) presents a maximum emission at 418 nm, while the PPE-Th-CO(2) has an absorption λ(max) centered at 431 nm, in sufficient proximity for effective FRET. Several LbL films have been constructed using varied concentrations of the deposition solutions and identity of the buffer layers separating the two emissive layers, using a system of either weak polyelectrolytes, poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH)/poly(sodium methacrylate) (PMA), or strong polyelectrolytes, poly(diallylammonium chloride) (PDDA)/poly(styrene sulfonate) sodium (PSS). The efficiency of FRET has been monitored using fluorescence spectroscopy. Initially, the fluorescence of the PFl-CO(2) (E(g) ～ 3.0 eV), which emits at 420 nm, is quenched by the lower band gap PPE-Th-CO(2) (E(g) ～ 2.5 eV). For films using the PAH/PMA system as buffer bilayers and deposited from 1 mM solutions, the PFl-CO(2) fluorescence is progressively recovered as the number of intervening buffer bilayers is increased. Ellipsometry measurements indicate that energy transfer between the two emissive layers is efficient to a distance of ca. 7 nm.     

Orientation of bromination in bay-region of perylene diimides

We found that the entering position of the bromination in the bay-region (e.g., 1,6,7,12-positions) was precisely determined by the orientation director(s), either individually or cooperatively. In particular, a combination of two directors shows precisely positioning for the third entering bromo with an effect of ‘1+1>2’.     

Photophysics of water soluble perylene diimides in surfactant solutions

Our previous photophysical study of water soluble perylene diimides (WS-PDIs) has suggested that WS-PDIs are present in aqueous solution in partially aggregated form (Tang, T. J.; Qu, J. Q.; Müllen, K.; Webber, S. E. Langmuir 2006, 22, 7610-7616) In this article we present a study of the effect of surfactants (dodecyltrimethylammonium chloride (DTAC), sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)) on the photophysics of WS-PDIs. Adding surfactant to WS-PDI solutions is accompanied by their increased fluorescence quantum yield and lifetime and a more structured absorption spectra. We are able to demonstrate that above the surfactant critical micelle concentration (cmc) the WS-PDI moieties are molecularly dispersed and isolated from each other. Our findings are consistent with the existence of weakly interacting aggregates of WS-PDIs in pure water, which can be broken up by surfactants even below the cmc, although we cannot rule out that the observed photophysical changes arise from modifying the local environment of molecularly solubilized WS-PDIs (e.g., local polarity or modification of the molecular planarity).     

Selective bromination of perylene diimides under mild conditions

A novel method for the bromination of perylene diimides, PDI (1), under mild conditions is reported. Variation of the reaction conditions allows mono- and dibromination of PDIs to afford 2 and 3 (these can be separated through standard procedures) or exclusive dibromination to afford 3. Pure 1,7 regioisomers are obtained through repetitive crystallization. The structure of 1,7-3b was elucidated by a single-crystal X-ray analysis. The facility of the bromination reaction, which decreases in the order 1a > 1b > 1c, depends on PDI aggregation propensities. Monobrominated PDIs were utilized for the syntheses of novel unsymmetrical piperidinyl (4a and 4b) and trimethylsilylethynyl derivatives (5a and 5b). Computational studies (DFT) on imide substituent rotation in PDIs reveal that in the case of bulky groups there is a restricted rotation leading to isomers, in agreement with our experimental results. An aromatic core twist in PDIs bearing one and two bromine substituents was also investigated by DFT.     

Energy transfer in calixarene-based cofacial-positioned perylene bisimide arrays

The synthesis of multichromophoric perylene bisimide-calix[4]arene arrays with up to five perylene units (containing orange, violet, and green perylene bisimide chromophores) and of monochromophoric model compounds was achieved by subsequent imidization of mono-Boc functionalized calix[4]arene linkers with three different types of perylene bisimide dye units. The optical properties of all compounds were studied with UV/vis absorption and steady state and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy. Upon excitation of the inner orange dye at 490 nm of array 3, strong fluorescence emission of the outer green perylene bisimide (PBI) chromophore at 744 nm is observed. The fluorescence excitation spectra of compounds 3 and 4 (lambdadet = 850 nm) show all absorption bands of the parent chromophores (e.g., all perylene units contribute to the emission from S1 state of the green PBI). Thus, the fluorescence emission and excitation spectra as well as time-resolved data of fluorescence lifetimes in the absence (tauD = 5.1 ns) and in the presence of an acceptor (tauDA = 0.8 ns) suggest efficient energy transfer processes between the perylene bisimide dye units. For the bichromophoric array 4, the energy transfer rate is calculated to a value of 1.05 x 109 s-1. These results demonstrate highly efficient energy transfer in cofacially assembled dye arrays.     

Photophysical and electrochemical properties of 1,7-diaryl-substituted perylene diimides

Substituent effects on the photophysical and electrochemical properties of 1,7-diaryl-substituted perylene diimides (1,7-Ar(2)PDIs) have been carefully explored. Progressive red-shifts of the absorption and emission maxima were observed when the electron-donating ability of these substituents was increased. Linear Hammett correlations of 1/lambda(max) versus sigma(+) were observed in both spectral analyses. The positive slopes of the Hammett plots suggested that the electronic transitions carry certain amounts of photoinduced intramolecular charge-transfer (PICT) character from the aryl substituents to the perylene diimide core which leads to the reduction of the electron density on the substituents. The substituent electronic effects originated mainly from the perturbation of the core PDI HOMO energy level by the substituents. This conclusion was supported by PM3 analyses and confirmed by cyclic voltammetry experiments. More interestingly, the Ph(2)NC(6)H(4)-substituted PDI, 4i, showed an unusual dual-band absorption that spans from 450 to 750 nm. We tentatively assigned these two bands as the charge-transfer band and the PDI core absorption, respectively.     

Living ring-opening metathesis polymerization of norbornenes bay-functionalized perylene diimides

Ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP)-derived poly(oxanorbornene imide)s bearing bay-linked mono - alkoxy -M1 and 1,7-di-alkoxy M2 functionalized perylene diimides (PDIs) were synthesized using Grubb's third ( G3 ) and Hoveyda-Grubbs second generation ( HG2 ) ruthenium-alkylidene metathesis initiators. The mono-alkoxy-derived PDI-based non-ladderphane polymer poly M1 displayed 67% to 77% of the trans olefin content in the polymer chain depending on the initiator used for the polymerization. When using the symmetrical 1,7-di-alkoxy-derived PDI-based polymer poly M2 having the ladderphane type-structure, this displayed a significant amount of cis and trans olefin contents in the polymer chains, irrespective of the type of initiators used for the polymerization. ROMP of both monomers M1 and M2 proceeded in a well-controlled manner with a linear dependence of molecular weight on the monomer/initiator ratio using G3 as initiator. Optical properties of the ladderphane-based poly M2 and non-ladderphane-based poly M1 were characterized in both solution and the film state. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis for all the polymers showed significant π-stacking in the thin film state with ordered molecular packing and closer values of d-spacing for both poly M1 and poly M2 . Film morphology examined by AFM elucidated homogenous smooth polymer surface for both polymers in general, but with some irregularities observed for poly M1 . In addition, CV analysis revealed both polymers could be good candidates as electron-accepting materials, with excellent film-forming ability, and thermal stability.     

Surface molecular imprinting in layer-by-layer films on silica particles

An improvement to molecular imprinting in polymers, where bulk systems often suffer from slow dynamics of release and uptake, is the formation of thin films with imprinting sites that are more rapid to access by guest molecules. Based on our previous development of surface molecular imprinting layer-by-layer (LbL) films (SMILbL), the present paper presents selective imprinted sites in a surface film on dispersed silica particles, thus designing a SMILbL system with maximized active area and in addition allowing studies with bulk techniques. The multilayer is designed to include the template during the LbL buildup and to form a cross-linked network upon UV-irradiation for enhanced stability. A theophylline moiety is grafted to poly(acrylic acid) as the template, while a UV-sensitive diazo polycation cross-links the polymers after irradiation. Electrophoretic measurements prove the successful buildup of the multilayers by an alternating sign of the zeta potential. Template release is achieved by cleavage of the grafted template. The released amount of template is quantified in solution by (1)H NMR spectra and is in good agreement with the prediction from surface coverage calculations. Rebinding studies of template to the now empty imprinted binding sites show a high affinity for a theophylline derivative with a rebound amount on the order of the original template content. In contrast to theophylline, caffeine with a very similar chemical structure-only differing in one functional group-shows very different binding properties due to a thiol moiety in the binding site. Thus, a particle system with very selective molecular imprinting sites is demonstrated.     

Semi‐perfluoroalkylated perylene diimides for conjugated polymers with high molecular weight and high electron mobility

Perylene diimides (PDIs) and their derivatives are excellent semiconductors, while conjugated polymers based on PDIs have limited applications because of their low electron mobility (μ_e) derived from low molecular weight. The reported maximum number‐average molecular weight (M_n) of related polymers is only 21 kDa because PDIs have very poor solubility due to strong π–π stacking of their big planar conjugated cores. Herein, it is found that suitable semi‐perfluoroalkyl groups could enhance the solubility of PDIs significantly, and a series of semi‐perfluoroalkyl modified conjugated polymers with high molecular weight and electron mobility were synthesized. The maximum M_n reaches 94.8 kDa [P(4C_F8C_H‐PDI‐T2)_HW]. In their space‐charge‐limited current (SCLC) devices, all polymers exhibit typical characters of electron transporting semiconductors, and the highest μ_e is up to 8.40 × 10⁻³ cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ [P(4C_F8C_H‐PDI‐T2)_HW], which is similar as that of widely used electron transporting semiconductor PC₆₁BM (6.41 × 10⁻³ cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹). © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2018 , 56, 116–124     

Non-classical control of solid-state aggregation-induced enhanced circularly polarized luminescence in chiral perylene diimides

Organic fluorescent molecules are gaining importance because of their potential applications in many devices. Optically active N,N′-bis((1R)-1-naphthylethyl)perylene-3,4,9,10-tetracarboxylic diimide [(R,R)-1-BNP] and N,N′-bis((1R)-2-naphthylethyl)perylene-3,4,9,10-tetracarboxylic diimide [(R,R)-2-BNP] and their antipode, [(S,S)-1-BNP and (S,S)-2-BNP], emit aggregation-induced enhanced (AIEnh) circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) on both a solid organic polymer film (poly(methyl methacrylate)) and solid inorganic KBr pellet. An opposite chirality is essential for generating CPL of inverted sign. However, a pair of enantiomeric organic molecules may not always be easy to prepare. Interestingly, the chiral perylene fluorophores synthesized in this study can emit both positive and negative AIEnh-CPL in the solid state, depending on their position on the naphthylene groups. In addition, no CPL was observed in these compounds from their dilute solutions.     

Syntheses and properties of 1,6 and 1,7 perylene diimides and tetracarboxylic dianhydrides

Via Sonogashira cross-coupling with different alkynes, 1,6 and 1,7 perylene diimides (PDIs) and perylene tetracarboxylic dianhydrides (PTCDs) were synthesized from the corresponding regioisomeric mixture of 1,6/1,7-dibromo precursors. Both bulky triphenyl propyne (TPP) groups and nonbulky hexyl groups allow for facile chromatographic separation. The optical properties of these compounds are discussed. Neutral bay substituents hypsochromically shift both the absorption and emission through deformation from planarity of the perylene core.     

Facile synthesis of chiral unsymmetric perylene tetracarboxylic diimides involving α-amino acids

A facile synthesis of chiral unsymmetric perylene tetracarboxylic diimides (PDIs) has been developed and the first two nonracemic chiral amphiphilic PDIs have been synthesized. The key building blocks, AB bifunctional 3,4,9,10-perylenetetracarboxylic-3,4-anhydride-9,10-imides, were prepared conveniently from enantiomerically pure α-amino acids, which were introduced as the steric and stereochemical controlling units. Such building blocks allow the incorporation of sterically and stereochemically controlled PDI moieties into both terminal and inner positions.     

Photoinduced electron transfer and nonlinear absorption in poly(carbazole-alt-2,7-fluorene)s bearing perylene diimides as pendant acceptors

This paper reports the synthesis, photophysical behavior, and use in nanosecond optical-pulse suppression of a poly(2,7-carbazole-alt-2,7-fluorene) and a poly(3,6-carbazole-alt-2,7-fluorene) in which the carbazole N-positions are linked by an alkyl chain to one of the nitrogen atoms of a perylene-3,4,9,10-tetracarboxylic diimide (PDI) acceptor. It was found that the PDI pendants on the polymer side chain aggregated even in dilute solution, which extended the onset of PDI absorption into the near-infrared (NIR). Transient-absorption spectra of these polymers provide evidence for efficient electron transfer following either donor or acceptor photoexcitation to form long-lived charge-separated species, which exhibit strong absorption in the NIR. The spectral overlap between the transient species and the long-wavelength absorption edge of the aggregated PDI leads to reverse saturable absorption at 680 nm that can be used for optical-pulse suppression. Additionally, at high input energies, two-photon absorption mechanisms may also contribute to the suppression. PDI-grafted polymers exhibit enhanced optical-pulse suppression compared with blends of model materials composed of unfunctionalized poly(carbazole-alt-2,7-fluorene)s and PDI small molecules.     

Electron hopping in pi-stacked covalent and self-assembled perylene diimides observed by ENDOR spectroscopy

We have carried out room-temperature, solution-phase electron paramagnetic resonance and electron-nuclear double resonance studies on a series of radical anions based upon perylene-3,4:9,10-bis(dicarboximide) (PDI). The following systems were studied: two PDI monomers, a covalent, cofacial dimer, and two covalent trefoil-PDI3 molecules, one of which self-assembles into pi-stacked dimers. Full sharing of the unpaired electron in the covalent and self-assembled dimers is revealed by a halving of the hyperfine coupling constants in these species, relative to those of the monomers. These results and the electronic absorption spectra show that electron hopping on a >107 Hz time scale occurs between a reduced and neutral chromophoric pair.     

Valence electronic properties of n-channel organic materials based on fluorinated derivatives of perylene diimides

The valence electronic states of three kinds of fluorinated derivatives of perylene diimides, D2MFPP, D3MFPP, and D4MFPP, on Cu(110) and SiO(2)Si surface were studied by photoemission and density functional calculations. When these organic molecules were deposited on the Cu(110) and thermally oxidized SiO(2) surfaces, five well-resolved photoemission features originating from the molecules were observed. On Cu(110) surface, two emission features with pi-like character increased their binding energy with increasing the coverage of organic molecule, indicating a strong interaction between the organic molecules and Cu substrate. The density functional calculations suggest flat-lying adsorption geometry for D3MFPP and D4MFPP on Cu(110) surface.     

Spectral properties and G-quadruplex DNA binding selectivities of a series of unsymmetrical perylene diimides

A series of new unsymmetrical perylene diimides have been synthesized to investigate their binding selectivities to G-quadruplex DNA structure, a unique four-stranded DNA motif, which is significant to the regulation of telomerase activity. The structures of the perylene diimides have been characterized by IR spectrophotometer, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, MS, TGA and time-resolved instruments. Spectrochemical behaviors have been investigated by visible absorption and fluorescence emission spectra. The spectral characterization of the compounds has been investigated in five common organic solvents of different polarity and in water (in 170 mM phosphate buffer at pH 6). Marked red shifts of absorbance and fluorescence emission bands of the compounds in aqueous solution are compared with the other organic solutions. The fluorescence quantum yields are determined low in more polar solvents and also calculated to be about less than about 0.05 in aqueous solution because of the aggregation effects. Photodegradation rate constants (k_p) of the synthesized compounds have been compared under xenon lamp irradiation in acetonitrile solution.Binding abilities of the synthesized perylene diimides to different form of DNA strands have been investigated by visible absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy in the phosphate buffer solutions. Also, pH-dependent aggregation and G-quadruplex DNA binding selectivity of these ligands have been compared. Among these ligands, N-(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)-N′-(4-pyridyl)-perylene-3,4,9,10-tetracarboxylic diimide (PYPER) has been found to be the most selective interactive ligand for G-quadruplex formed in the G4′-DNA structure. PYPER has shown a significant selectivity to G4′-DNA which is comprised of d(TTAGGG) repeats, known as human telomeres, in the phosphate buffer at pH 6. The absorption maximum of the PYPER/G4′-DNA complex has given bathochromic shift of 7 nm with respect to the absorption maximum of DNA-free solution of PYPER in phosphate buffer at pH 6. Fluorescence quenching experiments between PYPER and G4′-DNA show that PYPER demonstrates about a 9.3-fold selectivity for binding to G4′-DNA versus ds-DNA base pairs with the bimolecular rate constant of 0.95 × 10¹² M⁻¹ s⁻¹.     

Direct electron transfer and electrocatalysis of hemoglobin in layer-by-layer films assembled with Al-MSU-S particles

In this paper, layer-by-layer (LBL) {MSU/Hb}(n)/PDDA films assembled by alternate adsorption of positively charged hemoglobin (Hb) and negatively charged mesoporous molecular sieves of Al-MSU-S onto a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) were reported. Al-MSU-S was synthesized by the precursor of zeolite Y and ionic liquids 1-hexadecane-3-methylimidazolium bromide (CMIMB) as a template in basic medium. It exhibited larger pore diameter, pore volume and surface area. Direct electrochemical and electrocatalytic properties of Hb in these layer-by-layer films were investigated. A pair of well-defined nearly reversible cyclic voltammetric peaks was observed and the formal potential of the heme Fe(III)/Fe(II) redox couple was found to be -0.295V (vs. SCE). The influences of layer's number and the pH of the external solution to the electron transfer behavior of Hb in {MSU/Hb}(n)/PDDA films were also estimated by cyclic voltammetry and a set of optimized conditions for film fabrication was inferred. The hemoglobin in{MSU/Hb}(n)/PDDA films displayed a good electrocatalytic activity to the reduction of hydrogen peroxide, which had linear current responses from 1.0 x 10(-6) to 1.86 x 10(-4)mol/L with the detection limit of 5.0 x 10(-7)mol/L (S/N=3). The apparent Michaeli-Menten constant (K(m)(app)) was 0.368 mmol/L. Thus, this methodology shows potential application of the preparation of third-generation biosensors.     

The mechanism of perylene photo-oxidation in a water-soluble polymeric photocatalyst

The photo-oxidation of perylene in aqueous solutions of a polymeric photocatalyst was investigated to probe the mechanism of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon degradation. Perylene and other hydrophobic molecules are efficiently solubilized in aqueous polymer solutions with distribution coefficients as high as 4 x 10⁶. The rate of perylene photo-oxidation was much more rapid in aqueous polymer solutions than in organic solvents. In organic solvents, ¹0₂ sensitizers (rose bengal) had little effect on the reaction, but electron acceptors, such as dicyanobenzene, caused an acceleration in rate. Naphthoquinone was suggested as a potential electron acceptor in the naphthalene-containing polymer, and it was shown to be formed in small concentrations by polymer oxidation. It was concluded that the polymer plays several key functions in perylene photo-oxidation: (1) solubilization of the hydrophobic molecule; (2) energy migration through the polymer coil and energy transfer, providing additional photochemical energy to the reactants; (3) the enhancement of oxidation by photoinduced electron transfer via provision of an electron acceptor and facilitation of charge separation.