Tubularenes.

We report the synthesis and characterization of conjugated, conformationally rigid, and electroactive carbon-based nanotubes that we term tubularenes. These structures are constructed from a resorcin[n b]arene base. Cyclization of the conjugated aromatic nanotube is achieved in one-pot eight-fold C-C bond formation via Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling. DFT calculations indicate a buildup of strain energy in excess of 90 kcal mol-1. The resulting architectures contain large internal void spaces >260 Å3, are fluorescent, and able to accept up to 4 electrons. This represents the first scaffolding approach that provides conjugated nanotube architectures.

Controlling Singlet Fission by Molecular Contortion.

Singlet fission, the generation of two triplet excited states from the absorption of a single photon, may potentially increase solar energy conversion efficiency. A major roadblock in realizing this potential is the limited number of molecules available with high singlet fission yields and sufficient chemical stability. Here, we demonstrate a strategy for developing singlet fission materials in which we start with a stable molecular platform and use strain to tune the singlet and triplet energies. Using perylene diimide as a model system, we tune the singlet fission energetics from endoergic to exoergic or iso-energetic by straining the molecular backbone. The result is an increase in the singlet fission rate by 2 orders of magnitude. This demonstration opens a door to greatly expanding the molecular toolbox for singlet fission.

Thermally Persistent High-Spin Ground States in Octahedral Iron Clusters.

Chemical oxidation and reduction of the all-ferrous (HL)2Fe6 in THF affords isostructural, coordinatively unsaturated clusters of the type [(HL)2Fe6] n: [(HL)2Fe6][BArF24] (1, n = +1; where [BArF24]- = tetrakis[(3,5-trifluoromethyl)phenyl]borate), [Bu4N][(HL)2Fe6] (2a, n = -1), [P][(HL)2Fe6] (2b, n = -1; where [P]+ = tributyl(1,3-dioxolan-2-ylmethyl)phosphonium), and [Bu4N]2[(HL)2Fe6] (3, n = -2). Each member of the redox-transfer series was characterized by zero-field 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy, near-infrared spectroscopy, single-crystal X-ray crystallography, and magnetometry. Redox-directed trends are observed when comparing the structural metrics within the [Fe6] core. The metal octahedron [Fe6] decreases marginally in volume as the molecular reduction state increases as gauged by the Fe-Feavg distance varying from 2.608(11) Å ( n = +1) to 2.573(3) ( n = -2). In contrast, the mean Fe-N distances and ∠Fe-N-Fe angles correlate linearly with the [Fe6] oxidation level, or alternatively, the changes observed within the local Fe-N4 coordination planes vary linearly with the aggregate spin ground state. In general, as the spin ground state ( S) increases, the Fe-N(H)avg distances also increase. The structural metric perturbations within the [Fe6] core and measured spin ground states were rationalized extending the previously proposed molecular orbital diagram derived for (HL)2Fe6. Chemical reduction of the (HL)2Fe6 cluster results in an abrupt increase in spin ground state from S = 6 for the all-ferrous cluster, to S = 19/2 in the monoanionic 2b and S = 11 for the dianionic 3. The observation of asymmetric intervalence charge transfer bands in 3 provides further evidence of the fully delocalized ground state observed by 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy for all species examined (1-3). For each of the clusters examined within the electron-transfer series, the observed spin ground states thermally persist to 300 K. In particular, the S = 11 in dianionic 3 and S = 19/2 in the monoanionic 2b represent the highest spin ground states isolated up to room temperature known to date. The increase in spin ground state results from population of the antibonding orbital band comprised of the Fe-N σ* interactions. As such, the thermally persistent ground states arise from population of the resultant single spin manifolds in accordance with Hund's rules. The large spin ground states, indicative of strong ferromagnetic electronic alignment of the valence electrons, result from strong direct exchange electronic coupling mediated by Fe-Fe orbital overlap within the [Fe6] cores, equivalent to a strong double exchange magnetic coupling B for 3 that was calculated to be 309 cm-1.

Synthesis of well-defined bicapped octahedral iron clusters [((tren) L)2 Fe8 (PMe2 Ph)2 ](n) (n=0, -1).

The synthesis of polynuclear clusters with control over size and cluster geometry remains an unsolved challenge. Herein, we report the synthesis and characterization of open-shell octairon clusters supported by two heptaamine ligands [o-H2 NC6 H4 NH(CH2 )2 ]3 N ((tren) LH9 ). The crystal structure of the all-ferrous species ([(tren) L)2 Fe8 (PMe2 Ph)2 ] (1) displays a bicapped octahedral geometry with FeFe distances ranging from 2.4071(6) to 2.8236(5) Å, where the ligand amine units are formally in amine, amide, and imide oxidation states. Several redox states of the octairon cluster are accessible, as ascertained using cyclic voltammetry. The one-electron-reduced clusters [M](+) [((tren) L)2 Fe8 (PMe2 Ph)2 ](-) (M=Bu4 N (2 a); (15-crown-5)Na(thf) (2 b)) were isolated and characterized. Variable-temperature magnetic susceptibility data indicates that the exchange coupling within the [Fe8 ] core is antiferromagnetic which is attenuated upon reduction to the mixed valent anion.

Expanded redox accessibility via ligand substitution in an octahedral Fe6Br6 cluster.

Oxidation of the nominally all-ferrous hexanuclear cluster ((H)L)(2)Fe(6) with six equivalents of ferrocenium in the presence of bromide ions results in a six-electron oxidation of the Fe(6) core to afford the nominally all-ferric cluster ((H)L)(2)Fe(6)Br(6). The hexabromide cluster is also structurally characterized in a 4+ core oxidation state. A structural comparison of these two clusters provides an insight into the Fe(6) core electronic structure.