Short Excited-State Lifetimes Enable Photo-Oxidatively Stable Rubrene Derivatives.

A series of rubrene derivatives were synthesized and the influence of the side group in enhancing photo-oxidative stability was evaluated. Photo-oxidation half-lives were determined via UV-vis absorption spectroscopy, which revealed thiophene containing derivatives to be the most stable species. The electron affinity of the compounds did not correlate with stability as previously reported in literature. Our work shows that shorter excited-state lifetimes result in increased photo-oxidative stability in these rubrene derivatives. These results confirm that faster relaxation kinetics out-compete the formation of reactive oxygen species that ultimately degrade linear oligoacenes. This report highlights the importance of using molecular design to tune excited-state lifetimes in order to generate more stable oligoacenes.

On-surface light-induced generation of higher acenes and elucidation of their open-shell character.

Acenes are an important class of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons which have recently gained exceptional attention due to their potential as functional organic semiconductors. Fundamentally, they are important systems to study the convergence of physico-chemical properties of all-carbon sp2-frameworks in the one-dimensional limit; and by virtue of having a zigzag edge topology they also provide a fertile playground to explore magnetism in graphenic nanostructures. The study of larger acenes is thus imperative from both a fundamental and applied perspective, but their synthesis via traditional solution-chemistry route is hindered by their poor solubility and high reactivity. Here, we demonstrate the on-surface formation of heptacene and nonacene, via visible-light-induced photo-dissociation of α-bisdiketone precursors on an Au(111) substrate under ultra-high vacuum conditions. Through combined scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy and non-contact atomic force microscopy investigations, together with state-of-the-art first principles calculations, we provide insight into the chemical and electronic structure of these elusive compounds.

Semiconducting π-Extended Tetrathiafulvalene Derivatives.

Tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) has been one of the most studied compounds, since the discovery of electrical conductivity as a charge-transfer complex in combination with tetracyano-p-quinodimethane (TCNQ) in 1973. In 2004, TTF was realized in a new light as an innate semiconductor material, as well as conductor and superconductor material. Because of the ready modification of its core skeleton and better solubility than that of acene compounds, many TTF derivatives have been reported to attain better charge-carrier mobility for field-effect transistor devices. Considering the high charge-carrier mobility of acene and TTF derivatives, annulation of the acene and TTF moieties is expected to improve the charge-carrier mobilities. This Minireview focuses on the syntheses, crystal structures, and electronic properties of state-of-the-art π-extended TTF derivatives, based on the history of the development of TTF derivatives. The relationship between the packing structure and charge-carrier mobilities is also discussed.

On-Surface Synthesis of Heptacene Organometallic Complexes.

We report the on-surface formation of Au-directed heptacene organometallic complexes on a Au(111) template in an ultrahigh vacuum environment. Successive thermal annealing steps investigated by means of scanning tunneling microscopy, noncontact atomic force microscopy, temperature-programmed desorption and density functional theory reveal the formation of heptacene organometallic complexes via a selective two-step activation of an α-diketone-protected heptacene precursor. Furthermore, we demonstrate the efficiency of tip-induced deprotection experiments as a complementary strategy in the complex formation. Our results provide perspectives for the on-surface synthesis of larger acenes featuring potential use in the fields of organic electronics, spintronics and nonlinear optics.

Dinaphthotetrathiafulvalene Bisimides: A New Member of the Family of π-Extended TTF Stable p-Type Semiconductors.

Air-stable organic semiconductors based on tetrathiafuluvalene (TTF) were developed by synthesising a series of dinaphthotetrathiafulvalene bisimides (DNTTF-Im) using electron-donating TTF, π-extended naphthalene, and electron-withdrawing imide. Electron-spin-resonance spectroscopy and X-ray single-crystal structure analysis of aryl-substituted DNTTF-Im radical cations confirmed that localisation of the spin resides on the electron-donating TTF moiety. The organic field-effect transistor properties derived from the use of highly crystalline n-butyl (C4) and n-hexyl(C6)-substituted DNTTF-Im were assessed. The hole carrier mobility of C6-DNTTF-Im was improved from 3.7×10-3  cm2 V-1 s-1 to 0.30 cm2 V-1 s-1 in ambient conditions. This is attributed to the raise of the substrate temperature from 25 °C to 200 °C during sublimation. The XRD and microscopy analysis suggested that increasing the substrate temperature accelerates the end-on packing resulting in larger grains suitable for hole charge transport parallel to the substrate.

Magnetic resonance enterocolonography in detecting erosion and redness in intestinal mucosa of patients with Crohn's disease.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: In Crohn's disease (CD), assessment of disease activity and extension is important for clinical management. Endoscopy is the most reliable tool for evaluating disease activity in these patients and it distinguishes between lesions based on ulcer, erosion, and redness. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is less invasive than endoscopy; however, the sensitivity of MRI in detecting lesions is believed to be lower, and whether MRI can detect milder lesions has not been studied. The aim of this study was to compare the detection ability of magnetic resonance enterocolonography (MREC) with ileocolonic endoscopy in patients with CD. METHODS: A total of 27 patients with CD underwent both MREC and ileocolonoscopy. There were 55 lesions (18 ileum and 37 colon) endoscopically detected, and the findings of MREC were compared with each ileocolonoscopic finding to determine sensitivity and specificity. RESULTS: For a positive lesion defined as having at least one of the following: wall thickness, edema, diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) high intensity and relative contrast enhancement (RCE) on MREC, the sensitivities were 100% for ulcer, 84.6% for erosion, and 52.9% for redness, suggesting an ability to detect milder lesions such as erosion or redness. Moreover, RCE values were well correlated with the severity of endoscopically identified active lesions. CONCLUSION: MREC findings may be useful not only for evaluation of ulcers, but also for detection of endoscopically identified milder lesions in CD, suggesting a clinical usefulness of MREC for disease detection and monitoring.

Synthesis and solid-state structures of a tetrathiafulvalene-conjugated bistetracene.

A tetrathiafulvalene (TTF)-conjugated bistetracene was synthesized and characterized in the molecular electronic structures based on the spectroscopic measurements and the single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. UV/Vis absorption and electrochemical measurements of 5 revealed the considerable electronic communication between two tetracenedithiole units by through-bond and/or through-space interactions. The difference in the crystal-packing structures of 5, showing polymorphism, results in a variety of intermolecular electronic-coupling pattern. Of these, the π-stacking structure of 5 A gave a large transfer integral of HOMOs (97 meV), which value is beyond hexacene and rubrene, thus, quite beneficial to achieve the high hole mobility.

Pathogenicity and insect transmission of a begomovirus complex between tomato yellow leaf curl virus and Ageratum yellow vein betasatellite.

Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) and Ageratum yellow vein betasatellite (AYVB) are members of the genus Begomovirus (family Geminiviridae). TYLCV and AYVB have been found in Japan over the last 15 years, and are associated with tomato leaf curl and the tomato yellow leaf curl diseases (TYLCD). AYVB is also associated with some monopartite begomoviruses. We have cloned both TYLCV and AYVB and demonstrated that TYLCV can trans-replicate with AYVB in Nicotiana benthamiana and tomato plants. A mixed infection of TYLCV and AYVB induced more severe symptoms of upward leaf curl, stunting, vein thickening, and swelling compared with TYLCV infection alone. The symptoms induced by infection of AYVB included a rise in abnormal cell proliferation, and pigmentation around leaf vein tissues. This is the first study to show that a complex of TYLCV and AYVB can be transmitted by vector insects among tomato plants. These results indicate that TYLCV possesses the potential to induce severe TYLCD by associating with AYVB.