Synthesis, Photophysics, and Self-Assembly of Furan-Embedded Heteroarenes.

A series of pyrene/phenanthrene-fused furan derivatives (1-8) were synthesized by a simple condensation reaction between pyrene-4,5-diketone/phenanthrenequinone and substituted phenol/naphthol in the presence of trifluoromethanesulfonic acid in 1,2-dichlorobenzene heated at reflux. The formed compounds can emit strong blue light in organic solvents. Additionally, the self-assembly behaviors of two of the compounds (3 and 5) were studied through re-precipitation method and the resulting nanostructures were characterized by UV/Vis, fluorescence spectra, and field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). The findings showed that the shape and size of compounds 3 and 5 could be tuned by the ratio of THF and hexadecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) solution in water.