Substitutent effects in the periphery of 2,9-bisaryl-tetraazaperopyrene dyes.

A series of 2,9-bisaryl-1,3,8,10-tetraazaperopyrene (TAPP) derivatives has been synthesized by reacting 4,9-diamino-3,10-perylenequinone diimine with a large excess of the corresponding benzoyl chloride in refluxing nitrobenzene. Among all derivatives only ortho-substituted phenyl congeners were sufficiently soluble for studying solutions of defined concentration in organic solvents. The molecular structures of the crystallized compounds, determined by X-ray diffraction of four derivatives, are determined by the planar tetraazaperopyrene core and the interplanar angle of the phenyl rings, which depends on the size of the ortho substituent (40-70°). The intermolecular packing pattern of all compounds is characterized by parallel stacks of molecules with the substituted phenyl rings rotated out of the peropyrene plane to reduce the steric repulsion. Crystals of a TAPP derivative suitable for X-ray diffraction were grown from trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) for the first time, establishing a 2-fold protonated species. The ground-state geometries of the TAPP derivatives were calculated by DFT [B3PW91/6-31g(d,p)] and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energies of derivatives possessing electron-withdrawing groups were decreased, as were the computed electron affinities. The results of the modeling study were confirmed experimentally by cyclic voltammetry to evaluate the substituent effects on the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and the LUMO of the peropyrene core. The UV-vis absorption spectra of all compounds recorded in trifluoroacetic acid are almost superimposable and display a characteristic visible absorption band between 460 and 490 nm (log ε = 4.64-5.01) with a strong vibrational progression of 1173-1475 cm(-1). Their fluorescence spectra are characterized by bands between 490 and 530 nm that are the mirror images of the absorption spectra (Stokes shifts of 10-50 nm). The luminescence quantum yields range from <0.01 to 0.30, thereby indicating a quenching effect for some substitution patterns.

Aggregation and contingent metal/surface reactivity of 1,3,8,10-tetraazaperopyrene (TAPP) on Cu(111).

The structural chemistry and reactivity of 1,3,8,10-tetraazaperopyrene (TAPP) on Cu(111) under ultra-high-vacuum (UHV) conditions has been studied by a combination of experimental techniques (scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, XPS) and DFT calculations. Depending on the deposition conditions, TAPP forms three main assemblies, which result from initial submonolayer coverages based on different intermolecular interactions: a close-packed assembly similar to a projection of the bulk structure of TAPP, in which the molecules interact mainly through van der Waals (vDW) forces and weak hydrogen bonds; a porous copper surface coordination network; and covalently linked molecular chains. The Cu substrate is of crucial importance in determining the structures of the aggregates and available reaction channels on the surface, both in the formation of the porous network for which it provides the Cu atoms for surface metal coordination and in the covalent coupling of the TAPP molecules at elevated temperature. Apart from their role in the kinetics of surface transformations, the available metal adatoms may also profoundly influence the thermodynamics of transformations by coordination to the reaction product, as shown in this work for the case of the Cu-decorated covalent poly(TAPP-Cu) chains.

Putting group 13 elements onto perylenes: highly fluorescent N-B-N- and N-Al-N-substituted polycyclic aromatics.

Metalation of 3,4,9,10-tetraaminoperylene with boron and aluminum complex fragments has given rise to a new class of highly fluorescent N-B-N- and N-Al-N-substituted dyes with fluorescence quantum yields of up to 82%.

Diborylenetetraaminoperylenes (DIBOTAP): a new class of highly fluorescent functional polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons with N-B-N units.

A new class of N-B-N functionalized perylenes derived from N,N',N",N"'-diborylene-3,4,9,10-tetraaminoperylene (DIBOTAP) is readily accessible via several synthetic routes; they display intense green fluorescence and undergo two electrochemically reversible one-electron oxidation steps at approximately -0.2 V and 0.3 V (vs. SCE).

Tetraazaperopyrenes: a new class of multifunctional chromophores.

Tetraazaperopyrene and a range of derivatives have been synthesised and their photophysical and redox-chemical properties studied. The parent compound, 1,3,8,10-tetraazaperopyrene (1), was prepared by treating 4,9-diamino-3,10-perylenequinone diimine with triethyl orthoformate, whereas the 2,9-disubstituted derivatives of 1 were obtained after treatment with the corresponding carboxylic acid chloride or anhydride (2 mol equiv). The 1,3,8,10-tetraazaperopyrene core structure was established by X-ray diffraction of 2,9-bis(2-bromophenyl)-1,3,8,10-tetraazaperopyrene (6). The UV-visible absorption spectra of the compounds have a characteristic visible pi(*)<--pi absorption band at 440 nm (log epsilon(max)=4.80) with a strong vibrational progression (Delta nu approximately 1450 cm(-1)). Diprotonation of the nitrogen atoms induces a bathochromic shift of this band from 430-440 to 470-480 nm and all four nitrogen atoms are protonated when pure H(2)SO(4) is used as the solvent. The first and second as well as the third and fourth protonations occur concomitantly, which implies that they have very similar pK(a) values and, consequently, similar proton affinities. A theoretical study of the proton affinities in the gas phase and in solution attributes this behaviour to the effects of polar solvents, which dampen the charge of a protonated site at the other end of the molecule and thus effectively decouple the two opposite pyrimidine units in the polycondensed aromatic compound. The photophysical data were modelled in a time-dependent DFT study of 1, 1H(2)(2+) and 1H(4)(4+) in both the gas phase and in a polar solvent. All the dyes show weak fluorescence in organic solvents, however, their protonated conjugate acids show dramatically increased fluorescence intensity. All of the dyes undergo two electrochemically reversible one-electron reductions with cyclovoltammetric half-wave potentials at E(red1) approximately -0.9 V and E(red2) approximately -1.3 V (vs. SCE), which are associated with characteristic spectral changes.