Photochromic Dithienylethene‐Containing Boron(III) Ketoiminates: Modulation of Photo‐Responsive Behavior through Variation of Intramolecular Motion

A series of dithienylethene‐containing boron(III) ketoiminates, as well as their corresponding β‐ketoimine ligands, have been synthesized and characterized. The photophysical, electrochemical, and photochromic properties of the compounds have been studied. Photocyclization has been found to be suppressed upon introduction of a phenyl substituent on the nitrogen atom of the β‐ketoiminate core, whereas photochromism could be observed by replacement of the phenyl substituent with a bulky mesityl group. It is believed that the steric effect of the mesityl unit restricts molecular rotation, resulting in such a prominent difference in the photochromic properties.     

Synthesis,Photochromic, and Computational Studies of Dithienylethene‐Containing β‐Diketonate Derivatives and Their Near‐Infrared Photochromic Behavior Upon Coordination of a Boron(III) Center

A series of dithienylethene‐containing 1‐thienyl‐3‐aryl‐propane‐1,3‐diones (aryl=phenyl (Ph), thienyl (Th), and 4,5‐bis(2,5‐dimethylthiophen‐3‐yl)thiophen‐2‐yl (DTE‐Th)) and the corresponding boron(III) diketonates, (O^O)BR₂ (R=F, C₆F₅, and Ph), have been designed and synthesized. Their photophysical, electrochemical, and photochromic properties have been studied. Upon coordination of a boron(III) center, the closed forms of the dithienylethene‐containing β‐diketonates show near‐infrared response and the photochromic behavior was also found to be affected by the aryl substituents at the 3‐position of the β‐diketonates. Moreover, computational studies have been performed that help to provide an understanding of the effect of substituents on the photophysical and photochromic properties.     

Electrogenerated chemiluminescence of platinum(II) alkynyl terpyridine complex with peroxydisulfate as coreactant

A Pt(II) alkynyl terpyridine complex containing a carbazole moiety, [Pt((t)Bu(3)tpy)(C≡C-C(6)H(4)-4-carbazole-9)](+) ((t)Bu(3)tpy = 4,4',4'-tri-tert-butyl-2,2':6',2'-terpyridine) 1, has been synthesized and characterized. The photophysical behavior has been studied, and the molecular structure has been determined by X-ray crystallography. The complex was found to exhibit intense electrogenerated chemiluminescence (ECL) using peroxydisulfate (S(2)O(8)(2-)) as coreactant in acetonitrile/water (1-25%, v/v) mixture at both glassy carbon and gold electrodes, representing the first ECL example of the Pt(II) alkynyl family. The ECL was produced at potential corresponding to the first reduction wave (-0.90 V vs SCE), significantly shifted by ～0.65 V toward more positive potential compared with that of [Ru(bpy)(3)](2+) (bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine). The ECL spectrum was found to be identical to the photoluminescence spectrum recorded in the same medium, indicating the formation of the same excited state of dπ(Pt) → π*((t)Bu(3)tpy) (3)MLCT mixed with π(C≡CR) → π*((t)Bu(3)tpy) (3)LLCT in both cases. The ECL mechanism was proposed involving the formation of the strongly oxidizing intermediate, SO(4)(?-), mainly generated during the catalytic reduction of S(2)O(8)(2-) by the electrogenerated 1(-). Chemiluminescence of 1/S(2)O(8)(2-) based on reduction with Al metal is also described.     

Time-dependent density functional theory based Ehrenfest dynamics

Time-dependent density functional theory based Ehrenfest dynamics with atom-centered basis functions is developed in present work. The equation of motion for electrons is formulated in terms of first-order reduced density matrix and an additional term arises due to the time-dependence of basis functions through their dependence on nuclear coordinates. This time-dependence of basis functions together with the imaginary part of density matrix leads to an additional term for nuclear force. The effects of the two additional terms are examined by studying the dynamics of H(2) and C(2)H(4), and it is concluded that the inclusion of these two terms is essential for correct electronic and nuclear dynamics.     

Communication: Linear-expansion shooting techniques for accelerating self-consistent field convergence

Based on the corrected Hohenberg-Kohn-Sham total energy density functional [Y. A. Zhang and Y. A. Wang, J. Chem. Phys. 130, 144116 (2009)], we have developed two linear-expansion shooting techniques (LIST)- direct LIST (LISTd) and indirect LIST (LISTi), to accelerate the convergence of self-consistent field (SCF) calculations. Case studies show that overall LISTi is the most robust and efficient algorithm for accelerating SCF convergence, whereas LISTd is advantageous in the early stage of an SCF process. More importantly, LISTi outperforms Pulay's direct inversion in the iterative subspace (DIIS) [P. Pulay, J. Comput. Chem. 3, 556 (1982)] and its two recent improvements, energy-DIIS [K. N. Kudin, G. E. Scuseria, and E. Cance?s, J. Chem. Phys. 116, 8255 (2002)] and augmented Roothaan-Hall energy-DIIS [X. Hu and W. Yang, J. Chem. Phys. 132, 054109 (2010)].     

Luminescent cyclometalated dialkynylgold(III) complexes of 2-phenylpyridine-type derivatives with readily tunable emission properties

A novel class of luminescent dialkynylgold(III) complexes containing various phenylpyridine and phenylisoquinoline-type bidentate ligands has been successfully synthesized and characterized. The structures of some of them have also been determined by X-ray crystallography. Electrochemical studies demonstrate the presence of a ligand-centered reduction originating from the cyclometalating C^N ligand, whereas the first oxidation wave is associated with an alkynyl ligand-centered oxidation. The electronic absorption and photoluminescence properties of the complexes have also been investigated. In dichloromethane solution at room temperature, the low-energy absorption bands are assigned as the metal-perturbed π-π* intraligand (IL) transition of the cyclometalating C^N ligand, with mixing of charge-transfer character from the aryl ring to the pyridine or isoquinoline moieties of the cyclometalating C^N ligand. The low-energy emission bands of the complexes in fluid solution at room temperature are ascribed to originate from the metal-perturbed π-π* IL transition of the cyclometalatng C^N ligand. For complex 4 that contains an electron-rich amino substituent on the alkynyl ligand, a structureless emission band, instead of one with vibronic structures as in the other complexes, was observed, which was assigned as being derived from an excited state of a [π(C≡CC(6) H(4) NH(2) )→π*(C^N)] ligand-to-ligand charge-transfer (LLCT) transition.     

Highly selective ion probe for Al3+ based on Au(I)···Au(I) interactions in a bis-alkynyl calix[4]arene Au(I) isocyanide scaffold

A bis-alkynyl calix[4]arene Au(I) isocyanide complex has been synthesized and demonstrated to be a selective ion probe for Al(3+) based on Au(I)Au(I) interactions.     

Judicious Choice of N‐Heterocycles for the Realization of Sky‐Blue‐ to Green‐Emitting Carbazolylgold(III) C^C^N Complexes and Their Applications for Organic Light‐Emitting Devices

A new class of sky‐blue‐ to green‐emitting carbazolylgold(III) C^C^N complexes containing pyrazole or benzimidazole moieties has been successfully designed and synthesized. Through the judicious choice of the N‐heterocycles in the cyclometalating ligand and the tailor‐made carbazole moieties, maximum photoluminescence quantum yields of 0.52 and 0.39 have been realized in the green‐ and sky‐blue‐emitting complexes, respectively. Solution‐processed and vacuum‐deposited organic light‐emitting devices (OLEDs) based on the benzimidazole‐containing complexes have been prepared. The sky‐blue‐emitting device shows an emission peaking at 484 nm with a narrow full‐width at half‐maximum of 57 nm (2244 cm^?1), demonstrating the potential of this class of complexes in the application of OLEDs with high color purity. In addition, high maximum external quantum efficiencies of 12.3 % and a long operational half‐lifetime of over 5300 h at 100 cd m^?2 have been achieved in the vacuum‐deposited green‐emitting devices.