0000000000037966
AUTHOR
Ian Cheng-yi Hou
Dicyclopentaannelated Hexa-peri-hexabenzocoronenes with a Singlet Biradical Ground State
Abstract Synthesis of two dicyclopentaannelated hexa‐peri‐hexabenzocoronene (PHBC) regioisomers was carried out, using nonplanar oligoaryl precursors with fluorenyl groups: mPHBC 8 with two pentagons in the “meta”‐configuration was obtained as a stable molecule, while its structural isomer with the “para”‐configuration, pPHBC 16, could be generated and characterized only in situ due to its high chemical reactivity. Both PHBCs exhibit low energy gaps, as reflected by UV‐vis‐NIR absorption and electrochemical measurements. They also show open‐shell singlet ground states according to electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) measurements and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The use of…
Stepwise Lateral Extension of Phenyl‐Substituted Linear Polyphenylenes
Polyphenylenes (PPs) are unique polymers showing high mechanical strength and chemical stability, and having potential applications, for example, in proton transfer and gas‐separation membranes. Moreover, phenyl‐substituted linear PPs can serve as precursors for bottom‐up syntheses of graphene nanoribbons (GNRs), a new class of nanoscale carbon materials that appear promising for nanoelectronics. Notably, lateral extensions of linear PPs with appropriate “branched” phenyl substituents, that is, avoiding spatial overlap of benzene rings in their projections into a plane, can lead to wider GNRs with modulated electronic and optical properties. GNRs with widths up to ≈2 nm are obtained, but sy…
On-Surface Synthesis of Unsaturated Carbon Nanostructures with Regularly Fused Pentagon–Heptagon Pairs
Multiple fused pentagon-heptagon pairs are frequently found as defects at the grain boundaries of the hexagonal graphene lattice and are suggested to have a fundamental influence on graphene-related materials. However, the construction of sp2-carbon skeletons with multiple regularly fused pentagon-heptagon pairs is challenging. In this work, we found that the pentagon-heptagon skeleton of azulene was rearranged during the thermal reaction of an azulene-incorporated organometallic polymer on Au(111). The resulting sp2-carbon frameworks were characterized by high-resolution scanning probe microscopy techniques and feature novel polycyclic architectures composed of multiple regularly fused pen…
Protonenvermittelter Ringschluss eines negativ photochromen, Azulen‐basierten Diarylethens
Auf Protonen ansprechende photochrome Moleküle sind aufgrund ihrer Fähigkeit, auf nicht-invasive schnelle optische Stimuli zu reagieren, und wegen der ubiquitären Bedeutung von Protonierungs- und Deprotonierungsprozessen, sehr interessant. Üblicherweise befinden sich die sauren/basischen Stellen dieser Moleküle an Heteroatomen, die orthogonal zum photoaktiven π-Zentrum ausgerichtet sind. In dieser Arbeit wird Azulen, ein protonensensitiver reiner Kohlenwasserstoff, in das Gerüst eines Diarylethen-Photoschalters eingebaut. Dieser zeigt einen bisher ungekannten, protonenvermittelten, negativ photochromen Ringschluss. Veränderungen seiner optischen Eigenschaften durch Protonierung, sowohl in d…
Proton‐Gated Ring‐Closure of a Negative Photochromic Azulene‐Based Diarylethene
Abstract Proton‐responsive photochromic molecules are attractive for their ability to react on non‐invasive rapid optical stimuli and the importance of protonation/deprotonation processes in various fields. Conventionally, their acidic/basic sites are on hetero‐atoms, which are orthogonal to the photo‐active π‐center. Here, we incorporate azulene, an acid‐sensitive pure hydrocarbon, into the skeleton of a diarylethene‐type photoswitch. The latter exhibits a novel proton‐gated negative photochromic ring‐closure and its optical response upon protonation in both open and closed forms is much more pronounced than those of diarylethene photoswitches with hetero‐atom based acidic/basic moieties. …
Photomodulation of Two-Dimensional Self-Assembly of Azobenzene-Hexa-peri-hexabenzocoronene-Azobenzene Triads
International audience; Achieving exquisite control over self-assembly of functional polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and nanographene (NG) is essential for their exploitation as active elements in (nano)technological applications. In the framework of our effort to leverage their functional complexity, we designed and synthesized two hexa-peri-hexabenzocoronene (HBC) triads, pAHA and oAHA, decorated with two light-responsive azobenzene moieties at the pseudo-para and ortho positions, respectively. Their photoisomerization in solution is demonstrated by UV–vis absorption. 1H NMR measurements of oAHA suggested 23% of Z-form can be obtained at a photostationary state with UV irradiation …
Chemisorption of Atomically Precise 42-Carbon Graphene Quantum Dots on Metal Oxide Films Greatly Accelerates Interfacial Electron Transfer
Graphene quantum dots (GQDs) are emerging as environmentally friendly, low-cost, and highly tunable building blocks in solar energy conversion architectures, such as solar (fuel) cells. Specifically, GQDs constitute a promising alternative for organometallic dyes in sensitized oxide systems. Current sensitized solar cells employing atomically precise GQDs are based on physisorbed sensitizers, with typically limited efficiencies. Chemisorption has been pointed out as a solution to boost photoconversion efficiencies, by allowing improved control over sensitizer surface coverage and sensitizer-oxide coupling strength. Here, employing time-resolved THz spectroscopy, we demonstrate that chemisor…