Which isomer is it, 1,2,5,6- or 1,4,5,8-tetrasubstituted cycloocta-1,3,5,7-tetraene? Synthesis of symmetrically tetrasubstituted cycloocta-1,3,5,7-tetraene derivatives.

Ni(0) catalyzed cyclotetramerization [(2 + 2 + 2 + 2) cycloaddition] of propargyl alcohol gave D2 symmetric 1,4,5,8-tetrakis(hydroxymethyl)cycloocta-1,3,5,7-tetraene (1) as the major product contrary to what was reported earlier to be the corresponding C2v symmetric isomer, namely 1,2,5,6-tetrakis(hydroxymethyl)cycloocta-1,3,5,7-tetraene. The structure of 1 has been unambiguously assigned on the basis of single crystal XRD data which showed a very interesting "densely" intermolecularly hydrogen bonded solid state supramolecular structure. Tetrabromide (3) prepared from tetra-alcohol (1) reacted with a variety of nucleophiles, namely carbon, nitrogen, sulfur and phosphorus nucleophiles, to give the corresponding derivatives in good yields. The tetraphosphonate derivative (9) underwent the Wittig-Horner reaction with aromatic aldehydes to give the corresponding tetra-styryl derivatives (10a-i). The reaction of tetrabromide with aniline, benzyl amine and R(+)-α-methylbenzyl amine gave the corresponding C2v symmetric pyrroline fused 1,2,5,6-tetra-substituted cycloocta-1,3,5,7-tetraene derivatives, while all the other derivatives belonged to D2 symmetric 1,4,5,8-tetra-substituted cycloocta-1,3,5,7-tetraene. Quantum mechanical calculations support the above conclusion based on the relative stabilities of the two isomers. The fusion of a 5-membered pyrroline ring with the tub-shaped cyclooctatetraene (COT) ring leads to flattening of the tub (shallow tub) making it easier for the ring inversion of COT through a planar intermediate to take place readily resulting in the formation of C2v symmetric pyrroline fused COT derivatives.

Synthesis and application of 3,4,7,8-tetrakis-exo-methylenecycloocta-1,5-diene as a versatile Diels-Alder diene: synthesis of V-shaped cyclooctatetraene fused acenes.

V-shaped molecules with a cyclooctatetraene (COT) core and rigid acene wings are an interesting class of compounds from the point of view of synthetic challenge and their applications in various fields such as photonics and molecular electronics. A new Diels-Alder diene, namely 3,4,7,8-tetrakis-exo-methylenecycloocta-1,5-diene (1), has been synthesized on a multigram scale by the debromination of 1,4,5,8-tetrakis-bromomethylcycloocta-1,3,5,7-tetraene (2) using either zinc powder or NaI. Compound 1 was used as a Diels-Alder diene with various dienophiles to yield the corresponding double Diels-Alder adducts. The Diels-Alder adducts have a COT core and dihydroaromatic wings which were aromatized with a variety of reagents. The methodology described herein provides a direct and shorter route for the synthesis of COT fused with rigid aromatic wings (V-shaped) compared to the existing iterative multistep synthesis of such compounds.

Synthesis of indolo- and pyrrolo[1,2-a]quinoxalinones through a palladium-catalyzed oxidative carbonylation of the C2 position of indole.

A methodology that involves the Pd-catalyzed direct C(sp2)-H bond carbonylation of the C2 position of indole has been introduced for the synthesis of indolo[1,2-a]quinoxalin-6(5H)-ones. The methodology developed herein was used for the synthesis of pyrrolo[1,2-a]quinoxalin-4(5H)-ones. The reaction of N-substituted 2-(1H-indol-1-yl)anilines or 2-(1H-pyrrol-1-yl)anilines and carbon monoxide in the presence of Pd(OCOCF3)2 as a catalyst and Cu(OAc)2 as an oxidant in toluene at 80 °C forms the corresponding quinoxalinones as exclusive products in good yields. The catalytically active C-H activated intermediate Pd complex was isolated and characterized for the first time which on exposure to CO gas in toluene at 80 °C gave the corresponding quinoxalinone derivative. On the basis of isolation of the intermediate, a possible mechanism has been proposed for the C-H activated direct carbonylative annulation of 2-(5-methoxy-1H-indol-1-yl)-N,4-dimethylaniline.

Effect of Slip-Stack Self-Assembly on Aggregation-Induced Emission and Solid-State Luminescence in 1,3-Diarylpropynones.

Co-facial stacking can result in aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ) in conjugated organic luminogens. This study provides an attractive 'slip-stack' self-assembly approach which can eliminate the occurrence of ACQ. The obtained results from steady-state and time-resolved optical studies, along with X-ray diffraction and computational studies demonstrate aggregation-induced emission enhancement (AIEE) of a donor-π-acceptor based 1,3-diarylpropynone, namely 1-(naphthalenyl)-3-(pyren-1-yl)prop-2-yn-1-one (PYNAP). Unlike the monomer, which exhibits poor photoluminescence in solution (φf =2 % in ACN), the twisted manifold of PYNAP allows the orientation of the molecules in a slip-stack fashion during the course of aggregation, which not only avoids a direct co-facial arrangement, but also induces augmented rigidity, leading to restricted intramolecular rotation (RIR) and enhanced emission quantum yield (φf =5 % in ACN/H2 O). The aggregation behavior of PYNAP's congener, 1-phenyl-3-(pyren-1-yl)prop-2-yn-1-one (PYPH) reinforces the hypothesis that slip-stack assembly is a useful strategy for AIEE in polycyclic hydrocarbon luminogens.

Palladium catalyzed carbonylative annulation of the C(sp2)-H bond of N,1-diaryl-1H-tetrazol-5-amines and N,4-diaryl-4H-triazol-3-amines to quinazolinones.

Pd(ii) catalyzed direct C-H carbonylative annulation of N,1-diaryl-1H-tetrazol-5-amines and N,4-diaryl-4H-1,2,4-triazol-3-amines gave the corresponding triazole and tetrazole fused quinazolinones in good yields. This methodology offers a convenient method for the synthesis of these important heterocyclic scaffolds in a highly atom economical process. On the mechanistic aspect weakly nucleophilic triazole and tetrazole moieties function as both directing as well as intramolecular nucleophiles. The catalytically active C-H activated intermediate dimeric Pd complex was isolated and characterized which on exposure to CO gas gave the corresponding tetrazole fused quinazolinone derivative. On the basis of isolation of the intermediate and observed kinetic isotope effects, a mechanism has been proposed for the C-H activated direct carbonylative annulation reaction.

Selective Synthesis of 3-Arylbenzo-1,2,3-triazin-4(3H)-ones and 1-Aryl-(1H)-benzo-1,2,3-triazoles from 1,3-Diaryltriazenes through Pd(0) Catalyzed Annulation Reactions.

Pd(0) catalyzed carbonylative annulation reaction of 1-(2-iodophenyl)-3-aryltriaz-1-enes in the presence of DABCO and 1 atm of carbon monoxide in toluene at 80 °C gave the corresponding 3-arylbenzo-1,2,3-triazin-4(3H)-ones with high selectivity and in excellent yields. Substrate scope of this reaction is demonstrated with 24 examples with various halo, alkyl, and alkoxy substituents on either of the aromatic rings. Bromo substituted triazenes were less reactive as starting materials toward the carbonylative annulation reaction and yielded 3-arylbenzo-1,2,3-triazin-4(3H)-ones in good to moderate yields in the presence of only xantphos as an additive. In the absence of CO (under N2 atmosphere), the reaction did not proceed, and only starting material was recovered. However, in the presence of catalytic amount of CO or in the presence of Ph3P in catalytic amounts as additives, the reactions proceeded to yield the corresponding 1-aryl-(1H)-benzo-1,2,3-triazoles selectively in good yields. On the basis of control experiments, a plausible reaction mechanism for the selective formation of 3-arylbenzo-1,2,3-triazin-4(3H)-ones in the presence of CO and1-aryl-(1H)-benzo-1,2,3-triazoles in the absence of CO through a common intermediate was proposed.

Facile base-free in situ generation and palladation of mesoionic and normal N-heterocyclic carbenes at ambient conditions.

Synthesis of normal and mesoionic N-heterocyclic carbene Pd(II) complexes in near quantitative yields from the corresponding NHC precursor salts under base free and ambient conditions is reported. A plausible mechanism involving charge-assisted hydrogen bonded intermediates is proposed.

Synthesis and structure of trans-bis(1,4-dimesityl-3-methyl-1,2,3-triazol-5-ylidene)palladium(II) dichloride and diacetate. Suzuki-Miyaura coupling of polybromoarenes with high catalytic turnover efficiencies.

trans-Bis(1,4-dimesityl-3-methyl-1,2,3-triazol-5-ylidene)palladium(II) dichloride has been shown to be an excellent catalyst for the multiple Suzuki-Miyaura coupling reactions of polybromoarenes to the corresponding fully substituted polyarylarenes. The reactions proceeded in excellent yields and with high turnover numbers. With 1,4-dibromobenzene the catalyst was found to be active for up to 13 consecutive cycles with a turnover number of 1260. The polyarylarenes were obtained in pure form after crystallization once without recourse to chromatographic purification. The single-crystal X-ray structures of the chloro (1) as well as the corresponding acetato (2) complexes are also reported and compared with the corresponding complexes of 1,4-diphenyl-3-methyl-1,2,3-triazol-5-ylidene as the ligand.

Donor-acceptor substituted phenylethynyltriphenylenes - excited state intramolecular charge transfer, solvatochromic absorption and fluorescence emission.

Several 2-(phenylethynyl)triphenylene derivatives bearing electron donor and acceptor substituents on the phenyl rings have been synthesized. The absorption and fluorescence emission properties of these molecules have been studied in solvents of different polarity. For a given derivative, solvent polarity had minimal effect on the absorption maxima. However, for a given solvent the absorption maxima red shifted with increasing conjugation of the substituent. The fluorescence emission of these derivatives was very sensitive to solvent polarity. In the presence of strongly electron withdrawing (-CN) and strongly electron donating (-NMe2) substituents large Stokes shifts (up to 130 nm, 7828 cm⁻¹) were observed in DMSO. In the presence of carbonyl substituents (-COMe and -COPh), the largest Stokes shift (140 nm, 8163 cm⁻¹) was observed in ethanol. Linear correlation was observed for the Stokes shifts in a Lippert-Mataga plot. Linear correlation of Stokes shift was also observed with E(T)(30) scale for protic and aprotic solvents but with different slopes. These results indicate that the fluorescence emission arises from excited state intramolecular charge transfer in these molecules where the triphenylene chromophore acts either as a donor or as an acceptor depending upon the nature of the substituent on the phenyl ring. HOMO-LUMO energy gaps have been estimated from the electrochemical and spectral data for these derivatives. The HOMO and LUMO surfaces were obtained from DFT calculations.

Unusual fluorescence emission from ethynyltriphenylene-substituted diacetylenic molecular hinge. Formation of intramolecular excimer.

A diacetylenic molecular hinge bearing two ethynyltriphenylene units (1) has been synthesized. Evidence from (1)H NMR and variable temperature NMR (VT-NMR) of 1 in comparison to model compounds bearing only one triphenylene unit suggests that there is an equilibrium between the open conformer and the intramolecularly pi-pi interacting closed conformer in solution (equilibrium constant K = 6.5 at 298 K in CDCl(3)) arising from the rotation of the diacetylenic hinge. Unusual fluorescence emission observed from 1 has been assigned to excimer formation arising from intramolecularly pi-pi interacting triphenylene units in the excited state. Steady state and picosecond time resolved fluorescence spectra of 1 were nearly identical and corresponded to intramolecular excimer emission.

Conformational isomers from rotation of diacetylenic bond in an ethynylpyrene-substituted molecular hinge.

The first example of isolation and X-ray crystallographic structural characterization of two conformers arising from rotation along a diacetylenic bond is reported. In both the conformers extensive pi-pi interactions are observed in the solid state. VT-NMR and fluorescence spectroscopic studies in solution suggest that the closed and open conformers are in equilibrium and that the closed conformer is the predominant species at room temperature.

Intramolecular pi-stacking interaction in a rigid molecular hinge substituted with 1-(pyrenylethynyl) units.

Synthesis of a tetrakis(1-pyrenylethynyl)-substituted rigid hinge-like molecule (1) is described. The intramolecular pi-stacking interaction of the pyrene units is studied by 1H NMR and fluorescence spectroscopy. Due to intramolecular pi-stacking interactions, chemical shifts of the pyrene protons in 1 are highly shielded in the NMR spectrum. Fluorescence from the static excimer state is observed due to pi-stacking interactions among the pyrene units in the ground state of 1. Based on the spectroscopic evidence, conformations and dynamics of 1, arising from the hindered rotation of the major axis, are proposed.

Synthesis and structures of cross-conjugated bis-dehydroannulenes with a Y-enediyne motif and different pi topologies.

A synthesis of cross-conjugated bis-dehydroannulenes with different topologies of the pi electrons by Cu(II)-mediated oxidative coupling of the corresponding terminal acetylenic precursors is reported. In general, of the two possible modes of cyclization, which would yield either a [13]annulene or an [18]annulene, the precursors yielded exclusively the bis-dehydro[13]annulenes. However, one example of the formation of a bis-dehydro[18]annulene is also reported. The mode of cyclization to form either the [13]annulene or the [18]annulene is explained on the basis of the conformational preference of the core unit bearing the Y-enediyne moieties. The structures of the two types of bis-annulenes have been unequivocally established by means of single-crystal X-ray crystallographic analysis.

Synthesis and spectroscopic investigation of aggregation through cooperative pi-pi and C-H...O interactions in a novel pyrene octaaldehyde derivative.

[reaction: see text] Synthesis of a pyrene octaaldehyde derivative and its aggregation through pi-pi and C-H...O interactions in solution and in the solid state probed by fluorescence emission and other spectroscopic methods are reported. The effect of solvent, concentration, and temperature on the aggregation is investigated.

Synthesis of 1,4-cyclohexadiene-based acetylenic macrocycles with Cadiot-Chodkiewicz coupling. Structure of a tub-shaped tetrameric container.

The Cadiot-Chodkiewicz coupling of cis-1,4-diethynyl-1,4-dimethoxycyclohexa-2,5-diene and the corresponding ethynyl bromide gave a mixture of acetyenic macrocycles ranging from dimer to octamer in good isolable yields. The trimeric and tetrameric macrocycles have been structurally characterized by single-crystal X-ray crystallography. In the crystal structure of the trimeric macrocycle a molecule of benzene is sandwiched between a pair of macrocyles. The tetrameric macrocycle exhibited a tub-shaped conformation and encapsulated a molecule of ethyl acetate inside the tub.

Synthesis of differentially protected/functionalised acetylenic building blocks from p-benzoquinone and their use in the synthesis of new enediynes.

Sequential addition of two different lithium acetylides to p-benzoquinone yielded diastereomeric mixtures of 1,4-diethynylcyclohexa-2,5-diene-1,4-diols wherein the two ethynyl groups bear different protective/functional groups. Selective deprotection to the terminal acetylene followed by Pd(0) mediated coupling with Z-1,2-dichloroethene yielded new enediynes bearing cyclohexa-2,5-diene units.