Detection of Nitroaromatic and Peroxide-Based Explosives with Amine- and Phosphine-Functionalized Diketopyrrolopyrroles.

Effective strategies for the detection and identification of explosives are highly desirable. Herein, we illustrate the efficient optoelectronic detection of nitroaromatic and peroxide-based explosives using amine- and phosphine-substituted diketopyrrolopyrroles. Selective quenching and an unprecedented enhancement of thin-film emission in the presence of nitroaromatic vapors are demonstrated via the judicious choice of amine substituents. The modulation of fluorescence emission in each case is shown to be dominated by electronic and thermodynamic effects, the vapor pressure of explosives, and the thin-film morphology. For peroxide detection, we describe an approach exploiting redox-mediated functional group transformation. The rapid oxidation of triphenylphosphine to phosphine oxide with hydrogen peroxide affords a significant increase in fluorescence emission, facilitating the sensitive turn-on detection of an important class of explosives at ppb concentrations.

Serendipitous Enhancement of the Dimensionality in Diketopyrrolopyrroles through O-Substitution.

We report for the first time the crystal structure of an O-substituted diketopyrrolopyrrole and further evaluate computationally the ability of this higher-dimensionality system to act as a charge transfer mediator in optoelectronic devices.

True absolute determination of photoluminescence quantum yields by coupling multiwavelength thermal lens and photoluminescence spectroscopy.

Photoluminescence quantum yields denote a critical variable to characterise a fluorophore and its potential performance. Their determination, by means of methodologies employing reference standard materials, inevitably leads to large uncertainties. In response to this, herein we report for the first time an innovative and elegant methodology, whereby the use of neat solvent/reference material required by thermal lens approaches is eliminated by coupling it to photoluminescence spectroscopy, allowing for the discrimination between materials with similar photoluminescence quantum yields. To achieve this, both radiative and non-radiative transitions are simultaneously measured using a photoluminescence spectrometer coupled to a multiwavelength thermal lens spectroscopy setup in a mode-mismatched dual-beam configuration, respectively. The absorption factor independent ratio of the thermal lens and photoluminescence signals can then be used to determine the fluorescence quantum yield both accurately and precisely. We validated our reported method using rhodamine 6G and further applied it to three novel structurally related diketopyrrolopyrrole based materials, which, in contrast to results obtained by other methods, unveiled significant differences in their photoluminescence quantum yields.

Development of a Neutral Diketopyrrolopyrrole Phosphine Oxide for the Selective Bioimaging of Mitochondria at the Nanomolar Level.

Development of novel bioimaging materials that exhibit organelle specific accumulation continues to be at the forefront of research interests and efforts. Among the various subcellular organelles, mitochondria, which are found in the cytoplasm of eukaryotic cells, are of particular interest in relation to their vital function. To date, most molecular probes that target mitochondria utilise delocalised lipophilic cations such as triphenylphosphonium and pyridinium. However, the use of such charged motifs is known to be detrimental to the working function of the mitochondrial transmembrane potential and there remains a strong case for development of neutral mitochondrial fluorescent probes. Herein, we demonstrate for the first time the exploitation of diketopyrrolopyrrole-based chemistries for the realisation of a neutral fluorescent probe that exhibits organelle specific accumulation within the mitochondria at the nanomolar level. The synthesised probe, which bears a neutral triphenylphosphine oxide moiety, exhibits a large Stokes shift and high fluorescence quantum yield in water, both highly sought-after properties in the development of bioimaging agents. In vitro studies reveal no interference with cell metabolism when tested for the human MCF7 breast cancer cell and nanomolar subcellular organelle colocalisation with commercially available mitochondrial staining agent Mitotracker Red. In light of its novelty, neutral structure and the preferential accumulation at nanomolar concentrations we anticipate this work to be of significant interest for the increasingly larger community devoted to the realisation of neutral mitochondrial selective systems and more widely to those engaged in the rational development of superior organic architectures in the biological field.

Role of H-Optimization in the Computed Intermolecular Interactions and Charge-Transfer Integrals in Diketopyrrolopyrroles.

Small organic conjugated systems displaying one-dimensional stacking motifs in the solid state that facilitate charge propagation are highly desirable. Noncovalent interactions, although weak, can synergistically provide those supramolecular architectures with large binding energies and associated thermal integrity. Amongst the plethora of intermolecular interactions contributing toward the overall lattice energy and stability of the charge-propagation supramolecular architectures, H-bonding interactions are well-known to play a pivotal role. Despite their critical contribution, the positions of hydrogen atoms in X-ray crystallographic data are parameterized, which can lead to significant changes in the computed intermolecular interactions. Herein, we report for the first time an analysis of the role that the optimization of the H atoms in X-ray structures has in the computed intermolecular interactions energies in diketopyrrolopyrroles (DPPs). A large dataset comprising 94 dimer pairs from 19 different DPP-based systems, including three pigment analogues, was employed. In total, more than 1400 H-X chemical bonds were considered and optimized using the M06-2X density functional at the 6-311G(d) level. Intermolecular interactions were computed for the H-optimized geometries and compared to those from nonoptimized counterparts. We report that in 35 out of the 94 dimer pairs investigated (37%), the computed intermolecular interactions were at least 2.5 kJ mol-1 larger on progression to the H-optimized geometries. In turn, lower computed values were yielded upon H-optimization computed for 8 out of the 94 dimer pairs (8%), with one case exhibiting a difference greater than 2.5 kJ mol-1. In line with the negligible changes to electron density and wavefunction overlap, the computed changes on the transfer integrals for the hole and electron were always lower than 1 kJ mol-1. The observed changes to computed intermolecular interactions can play a critical role in determining the thermal integrity of the supramolecular structures and charge propagation channels, and thus in the absence of neutron diffraction data, H atoms should be optimized prior to computation. We envisage that the results herein will be of interest to the extensive scientific community devoted to the understanding of intermolecular interactions in organic conjugated systems and the realization of superior charge-transfer-mediating materials, and given the plethora of intermolecular interactions investigated, the results are not solely limited to DPP-based architectures.

Detection of nitroaromatic vapours with diketopyrrolopyrrole thin films: exploring the role of structural order and morphology on thin film properties and fluorescence quenching efficiency.

Sensitive optical detection of nitroaromatic vapours with diketopyrrolopyrrole thin films is reported for the first time and the impact of thin film crystal structure and morphology on fluorescence quenching behaviour demonstrated.

TNT stilbene derivatives as SERRS active species.

Synthesis of four trinitrotoluene stilbene derivatives and assessment for SERRS activity is reported.

SERRS dyes. Part 3. Synthesis of reactive benzotriazole azo dyes for surface enhanced resonance Raman scattering.

A series of eleven specially designed benzotriazole monoazo dyes for use in surface enhanced resonance Raman scattering studies are reported. Unlike previous benzotriazole dyes produced for SERRS, these dyes have been synthesised to be trifunctional in nature. The presence of the benzotriazole moiety provides surface complexing properties, the azo linkage provides the colour and hence extra sensitivity and the nucleophilic amine group enables further functionalisation.

Selective functionalisation of TNT for sensitive detection by SERRS.

Selective chemical functionalisation of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene to a surface enhanced resonance Raman active species for sensitive detection.