Single-layer polymeric tetraoxa[8]circulene modified by s-block metals: toward stable spin qubits and novel superconductors.

Tunable electronic properties of low-dimensional materials have been the object of extensive research, as such properties are highly desirable in order to provide flexibility in the design and optimization of functional devices. In this study, we account for the fact that such properties can be tuned by embedding diverse metal atoms and theoretically study a series of new organometallic porous sheets based on two-dimensional tetraoxa[8]circulene (TOC) polymers doped with alkali or alkaline-earth metals. The results reveal that the metal-decorated sheets change their electronic structure from semiconducting to metallic behaviour due to n-doping. Complete active space self-consistent field (CASSCF) calculations reveal a unique open-shell singlet ground state in the TOC-Ca complex, which is formed by two closed-shell species. Moreover, Ca becomes a doublet state, which is promising for magnetic quantum bit applications due to the long spin coherence time. Ca-doped TOC also demonstrates a high density of states in the vicinity of the Fermi level and induced superconductivity. Using the ab initio Eliashberg formalism, we find that the TOC-Ca polymers are phonon-mediated superconductors with a critical temperature TC = 14.5 K, which is within the range of typical carbon based superconducting materials. Therefore, combining the proved superconductivity and the long spin lifetime in doublet Ca, such materials could be an ideal platform for the realization of quantum bits.

Benzoselenophenylpyridine platinum complexes: green versus red phosphorescence towards hybrid OLEDs.

The first examples of phosphorescent platinum complexes bearing 2- and 3-(2-pyridyl)benzo[b]selenophenes (PyBSe) were synthesized and fully characterized. Almost identical ionization potential values (5.6 and 5.58 eV) of the solid samples of the Pt complexes were obtained by electron photoemission spectroscopy. Having slightly different molecular design, the solid solutions of the complexes emitted efficient green and red phosphorescence with absolute quantum yields of 52% (for green) and 11.6% (for red). It is demonstrated that the platinum complexes synthesized can be used as phosphorescent dopants for hybrid solution-processable OLEDs.

Anti-Aromatic versus Induced Paratropicity: Synthesis and Interrogation of a Dihydro-diazatrioxa[9]circulene with a Proton Placed Directly above the Central Ring.

We present a high-yielding intramolecular oxidative coupling within a diazadioxa[10]helicene to give a dihydro-diazatrioxa[9]circulene. This is the first [n]circulene containing more than eight ortho-annulated rings (n>8). The single-crystal X-ray structure reveals a tight columnar packing, with a proton from a pendant naphthalene moiety centred directly above the central nine-membered ring. This distinct environment induces a significant magnetic deshielding effect on that particular proton as determined by 1 H NMR spectroscopy. The origin of the deshielding effect was investigated computationally in terms of the NICS values. It is established that the deshielding effect originates from an induced paratropic ring current from the seven aromatic rings of the [9]circulene structure, and is not due to the nine-membered ring being antiaromatic. UV/Vis spectroscopy reveals more efficient conjugation in the prepared diazatrioxa[9]circulene compared to the parent helical azaoxa[10]helicenes, and DFT calculations, including energy levels, confirm the experimental observations.

Computational study of aromaticity, 1H NMR spectra and intermolecular interactions of twisted thia-norhexaphyrin and its multiply annulated polypyrrolic derivatives.

The recently synthesized twisted thia-norhexaphyrin and its multiply annulated polypyrrolic derivatives have been studied computationally. Gauge-including magnetically induced current calculations predict a global nonaromatic character of the initial thia-norhexaphyrin due to the highly-twisted conformation of the macrocycle. Upon the oxidation of the thia-norhexaphyrin four multiply annulated polypyrrolic aromatic macrocycles are formed for which the global aromatic character is confirmed in agreement with experimentally measured 1H NMR spectra. The calculation of the proton chemical shifts for the studied compounds by direct comparison with the tetramethylsilane standard leads to a significant mean absolute error. At the same time a linear regression procedure for the two selected groups of protons (CH and NH protons) provides much better values of calculated chemical shifts and tight correlation with experiment. The separate consideration of NH protons is motivated by the numerous intermolecular hydrogen bonds in which the protons are involved, which induce considerable upfield shifts, leading to a significant underestimation of the corresponding chemical shifts. Such a selected correlation can be used for accurate estimation of proton chemical shifts of the related porphyrinoids. Bader's theory of Atoms in Molecules has been applied for the studied twisted thia-norhexaphyrin and its multiply annulated polypyrrolic derivatives to characterize intramolecular H-bonds and other non-covalent interactions.

Solvatochromic effect in absorption and emission spectra of star-shaped bipolar derivatives of 1,3,5-triazine and carbazole. A time-dependent density functional study.

A series of three star-shaped compounds containing both donor (carbazole) and acceptor (2,4,6-triphenyl-1,3,5-triazine) moieties linked through various linking bridges was studied theoretically at the linear response TD-DFT level of theory to describe their absorption and fluorescence spectra. The concept of a localized charge-transfer excited state has been applied successfully to explain the observed strong solvatochromic effect in the emission spectra of the studied molecules, which can be utilized for the fabrication of color tunable solution-processable OLEDs. The concept is in particularly applicable to donor-acceptor species with a C 3 symmetry point group where the static dipole moment changes dramatically upon electronic excitation. An important peculiarity of the studied molecules is that they are characterized by non-zero values of the HOMO and LUMO orbitals in the same common part of molecular space that provides a large electric dipole transition moment for both light absorption and emission. Graphical abstract Star-shaped C 3 symmetry point group derivatives for color tunable OLEDs.

Benzoannelated aza-, oxa- and azaoxa[8]circulenes as promising blue organic emitters.

In the present work, we studied the synergetic effect of benzoannelation and NH/O-substitution for enhancing the absorption intensity in a series of novel designed benzoannelated aza- and oxa[8]circulenes. Semi-empirical estimations of the fluorescence rate constants allowed us to determine the most promising fluorophores among all the possible benzoannelated aza-, oxa- and mixed azaoza[8]circulenes. Among them, para-dibenzoannelated [8]circulenes demonstrated the most intense light absorption and emission due to the prevailing role of the linear acene chromophore. Calculated φfl values are in complete agreement with experimental data for a number of already synthesized circulenes. Thus, we believe that the most promising circulenes designed in this study can demonstrate an intensive fluorescence in the case of their successful synthesis, which in turn could be extremely useful for the fabrication of future blue OLEDs. Special attention is devoted to the aromaticity features and peculiarities of the absorption spectra for the two highly-symmetrical (D4h ground state symmetry) π-isoelectronic species as well as the so-called tetrabenzotetraaza[8]circulene and tetrabenzotetraoxa[8]circulene molecules. Both of them are characterized by rich electronic spectra, which can be assigned only by taking into account the vibronic coarse structure of the first electronic absorption band; the 0-1 and 0-2 transitions were found to be active in the absorption spectrum in complete agreement with experimental data obtained for both energy and intensity. The corresponding promotive vibrational modes have been determined and their vibronic activity estimated using the Franck-Condon approximation.

Aromaticity of the doubly charged [8]circulenes.

Magnetically induced current densities and current pathways have been calculated for a series of fully annelated dicationic and dianionic tetraphenylenes, which are also named [8]circulenes. The gauge including magnetically induced current (GIMIC) method has been employed for calculating the current density susceptibilities. The aromatic character and current pathways are deduced from the calculated current density susceptibilities showing that the neutral [8]circulenes have two concentric pathways with aromatic and antiaromatic character, respectively. The inner octatetraene core (the hub) is found to sustain a paratropic (antiaromatic) ring current, whereas the ring current along the outer part of the macrocycle (the rim) is diatropic (aromatic). The neutral [8]circulenes can be considered nonaromatic, because the sum of the ring-current strengths of the hub and the rim almost vanishes. The aromatic character of the doubly charged [8]circulenes is completely different: the dianionic [8]circulenes and the OC-, CH-, CH2-, SiH-, GeH-, SiH2-, and GeH2-containing dicationic species sustain net diatropic ring currents i.e., they are aromatic, whereas the O-, S-, Se-, NH-, PH- and AsH-containing dicationic [8]circulenes are strongly antiaromatic. The present study also shows that GIMIC calculations on the [8]circulenes provide more accurate information about the aromatic character than that obtained using local indices such as nuclear-independent chemical shifts (NICSs) and (1)H NMR chemical shifts.

Structure and spectroscopic characterization of tetrathia- and tetraselena[8]circulenes as a new class of polyaromatic heterocycles.

The FTIR, Raman and UV-vis spectra of the recently synthesized tetrathia[8]circulene and tetraselena[8]circulene compounds have been measured and interpreted in details by the density functional theory (DFT) calculations taking into account the molecular symmetry constrains. The structural and electronic features of the studied compounds have also been discussed in connection with the observed spectroscopic characteristics. Particularly, we have found that despite a slightly non-planar conformation the neutral tetrathia[8]circulene and tetraselena[8]circulene molecules demonstrate bifacial aromatic/antiaromatic nature. The inner octatetraene core is characterized by the presence of paratropic ("antiaromatic") ring currents, whereas the outer macrocycle constructed of benzene, thiophene or selenophene rings possesses the strong magnetically-induced diatropic ("aromatic") ring current. This fact suggests the general electronic and magnetic similarity of the tetrathia- and tetraselena[8]circulenes with the strictly planar isoelectronic tetraoxa[8]circulene and related azaoxa-derivatives discussed earlier. However, the vibrational and UV-vis absorption spectra of the studied circulenes are rather different from those of the parent tetraoxa[8]circulene which indicates a clear manifestation of the symmetry selection rules.

Aromaticity of the completely annelated tetraphenylenes: NICS and GIMIC characterization.

A series of heterocyclic and hydrocarbon [8]circulenes (also named completely annelated tetraphenylenes) were studied by the NICS and GIMIC methods in order to describe their aromatic properties from the magnetic criterion point of view. According to calculations all the hetero[8]circulene molecules demonstrate the bifacial aromatic/antiaromatic nature. The inner octatetraene core of the studied [8]circulenes is characterized by the presence of paratropic ("antiaromatic") ring currents, whereas the outer macrocycle constructed from the five- and six-membered rings possesses the magnetically-induced diatropic ("aromatic") ring current. The hydrocarbon [8]circulenes studied in this work consist of a similar planar cyclooctatetraene core but they exhibit a rather different balance of magnetically-induced ring currents.

Tetrathio and tetraseleno[8]circulenes: synthesis, structures, and properties.

Novel sulfur and selenium-bridged [8]circulenes were prepared from octabromotetraphenylene. Structures of these compounds were unambiguously confirmed by X-ray crystallographic analyses. Photophysical and electrochemical investigations of these [8]circulenes suggest their potential applications as electronic materials. The antiaromatic nature of tetrathio[8]circulene and tetraselenium[8]circulene was studied by computational methods, and the NICS computational results reveal that the central eight-membered ring has highly antiaromatic character.

Design of nanoscaled materials based on tetraoxa[8]circulene.

Nanotubes and two-dimensional sheet-like compounds containing tetraoxa[8]circulene core units are theoretically predicted. The large cavities with a diameter of 6 Å in the 2D sheets could be useful for hydrogen storage. The designed compounds are predicted to adsorb strongly in the visible region and to be a promising material for nanophotonics because of their electron-donor properties (p-type semiconductors).

Diazadioxa[8]circulenes: planar antiaromatic cyclooctatetraenes.

In this paper we describe a new class of antiaromatic planar cyclooctatetraenes: the diazadioxa[8]circulenes. The synthesis was achieved by means of a new acid-mediated oxidative dimerization of 3,6-dihydroxycarbazoles to yield the diazadioxa[8]circulenes in high yields. The synthetic protocol appears to be general, and is a one-pot transformation in which two C-C bonds and two C-O bonds are formed with the loss of two molecules of water. We also present a detailed characterization of the optical and electrochemical properties of this new class of stable planar cyclooctatetraenes. The properties of the diazadioxa[8]circulenes are compared with the properties of isoelectronic tetraoxa[8]circulenes and azatrioxa[8]circulenes. We discuss the antiaromatic nature of the planar central cyclooctatetraene moiety. The antiaromatic nature of the planar cyclooctatetraenes was studied by using computational methods (NICS calculations), and these calculations reveal that the central eight-membered ring has antiaromatic character.

Single crystal architecture and absorption spectra of octathio[8]circulene and sym-tetraselenatetrathio[8]circulene: QTAIM and TD-DFT approach.

The single crystal architecture of the high-symmetry octathio[8]circulene and sym-tetraselenatetrathio[8]circulene is studied at the density functional theory (DFT) level with the quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIMs) approach to the electron density distribution analysis. The presence of stabilizing intermolecular C---C, C---S and C---Se contacts in the longitudinal and transversal projections of the single crystals is postulated on the grounds of the previous high-resolution X-ray data for octathio[8]circulene; it is supported by the present QTAIM calculations and also predicted in some new details for both circulenes. We suggest that the appearance of the observed red color for the monocrystalline octathio[8]circulene is caused by strong intermolecular interactions between the molecules in the single crystal. However, the intermolecular interactions for the sym-tetraselenatetrathio[8]circulene crystal fragment are weaker and molecular layers are more friable in comparison to octathio[8]circulene crystal structure. These lead to the absence of visible absorption for the sym-tetraselenatetrathio[8]circulene crystal.

Azatrioxa[8]circulenes: planar anti-aromatic cyclooctatetraenes.

We describe herein the first synthesis of a new class of anti-aromatic planar cyclooctatetraenes: the azatrioxa[8]circulenes. This was achieved by treating a suitably functionalised 3,6-dihydroxycarbazole with 1,4-benzoquinones or a 1,4-naphthoquinone. We fully characterised the azatrioxa[8]circulenes by using optical, electrochemical and computational techniques as well as by single-crystal X-ray crystallography. The results of a computational study (NICS) suggest that the central planar cyclooctatetraene is anti-aromatic when the molecules are in neutral or oxidised states (2+), and that the corresponding dianions are aromatic. We discuss the aromatic/anti-aromatic nature of the planar cyclooctatetraenes and compare them with the isoelectronic tetraoxa[8]circulenes.

Nucleus-independent chemical shift criterion for aromaticity in π-extended tetraoxa[8]circulenes.

Recently synthesized π-extended symmetrical tetraoxa[8]circulenes that exhibit electroluminescent properties were calculated at the density functional theory (DFT) level using the quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM) approach to electron density distribution analysis. Nucleus-independent chemical shift (NICS) indices were used to characterize the aromaticity of the studied molecules. The tetraoxa[8]circulene molecules were found to consist of two antiaromatic perimeters (according to the Hückel "4n" antiaromaticity rule) that include 8 and 24 π-electrons. Conversely, NICS calculations demonstrated the existence of a common π-extended system (distributed like a flat ribbon) in the studied tetraoxa[8]circulene molecules. Thus, these symmetrical tetraoxa[8]circulene molecules provide examples of diatropic systems characterized by the presence of induced diatropic ring currents.