A diradical approach to obtain stable organic dyes with intense absorption around λ=1100 nm is reported. The para- and meta-quinodimethane-bridged BODIPY dimers BD-1 and BD-2 were synthesized and were found to have a small amount of diradical character. These molecules exhibited very intense absorption at λ=1088 nm (ɛ=6.65×10⁵ M⁻¹ cm⁻¹) and 1136 nm (ɛ=6.44×10⁵ M⁻¹ cm⁻¹), respectively, together with large two-photon-absorption cross-sections. Structural isomerization induced little variation in their diradical character but distinctive differences in their physical properties. Moreover, the compounds showed a selective fluorescence turn-on response in the presence of the hydroxyl radical but not with other reactive oxygen species.

A diradical approach to obtain stable organic dyes with intense absorption around λ=1100 nm is reported. The para- and meta-quinodimethane-bridged BODIPY dimers BD-1 and BD-2 were synthesized and were found to have a small amount of diradical character. These molecules exhibited very intense absorption at λ=1088 nm (ɛ=6.65×10⁵ M⁻¹ cm⁻¹) and 1136 nm (ɛ=6.44×10⁵ M⁻¹ cm⁻¹), respectively, together with large two-photon-absorption cross-sections. Structural isomerization induced little variation in their diradical character but distinctive differences in their physical properties. Moreover, the compounds showed a selective fluorescence turn-on response in the presence of the hydroxyl radical but not with other reactive oxygen species.

Fast and highly efficient intramolecular singlet exciton fission in a pentacene dimer, consisting of two covalently attached, nearly orthogonal pentacene units is reported. Fission to triplet excitons from this ground state geometry occurs within 1 ps in isolated molecules in solution and dispersed solid matrices. The process exhibits a sensitivity to environmental polarity and competes with geometric relaxation in the singlet state, while subsequent triplet decay is strongly dependent on conformational freedom. The near orthogonal arrangement of the pentacene units is unlike any structure currently proposed for efficient singlet exciton fission and may lead to new molecular design rules.

p-Quinodimethane (p-QDM) is a highly reactive hydrocarbon showing large biradical character in the ground state. It has been demonstrated that incorporation of the p-QDM moiety into an aromatic hydrocarbon framework could lead to new π-conjugated systems with significant biradical character and unique optical, electronic and magnetic properties. On the other hand, the extension of p-QDM is expected to result in molecules with even larger biradical character and higher reactivity. Therefore, the synthesis of stable π-extended p-QDMs is very challenging. In this Personal Account we will briefly discuss different stabilizing strategies and synthetic methods towards stable π-extended p-QDMs with tunable ground states and physical properties, including two types of polycyclic hydrocarbons: (1) tetrabenzo-Tschitschibabin's hydrocarbons, and (2) tetracyano-rylenequinodimethanes. We will discuss how the aromaticity, substituents and steric hindrance play important roles in determining their ground states and properties.

Polymer-based organic semiconductors inherently facilitate solution processing and have the mechanical robustness necessary for printable and large area applications. In order to achieve large area solution-processed high-performance polymer based devices, controlling the crystallization and self-assembly behavior of the polymer thin films through solution processing method is desirable. Here, well controlled diketopyrrolopyrrole-thieno[3,2-b]thiophene copolymer (DPPT-TT) thin films are developed using slot die coating controlled self-assembly. The thin film morphologies and microstructure are investigated in details. This well-defined morphology is rationalized in terms of the strong intermolecular interactions. The organic thin film transistors (OTFTs) with these controlled thin films are fabricated and exhibited charge carrier mobilities of 4.6–7.2 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ for the slot die coating controlled devices when measured in ambient air and up to 8.9–10.2 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ when measured in nitrogen. When applying native grown AlO _x as gate dielectric, the OTFT achieves a mobility of 2.0 cm² V−¹ s⁻¹ at the operating voltage ≤−3 V.

Fusion of two N-annulated perylene (NP) units with a fused porphyrin dimer along the S₀–S₁ electronic transition moment axis has resulted in new near-infrared (NIR) dyes 1 a/1 b with very intense absorption (ε>1.3×10⁵ M⁻¹ cm⁻¹) beyond 1250 nm. Both compounds displayed moderate NIR fluorescence with fluorescence quantum yields of 4.4×10⁻⁶ and 6.0×10⁻⁶ for 1 a and 1 b, respectively. The NP-substituted porphyrin dimers 2 a/2 b have also been obtained by controlled oxidative coupling and cyclodehydrogenation, and they showed superimposed absorptions of the fused porphyrin dimer and the NP chromophore. The excited-state dynamics of all of these compounds have been studied by femtosecond transient absorption measurements, which revealed porphyrin dimer-like behaviour. These new chromophores also exhibited good nonlinear optical susceptibility with large two-photon absorption cross-sections in the NIR region due to extended π-conjugation. Time-dependent density functional theory calculations have been performed to aid our understanding of their electronic structures and absorption spectra.

Polycyclic hydrocarbon compounds with a singlet biradical ground state show unique physical properties and promising material applications; therefore, it is important to understand the fundamental structure/biradical character/physical properties relationships. In this study, para-quinodimethane (p-QDM)-bridged quinoidal perylene dimers 4 and 5 with different fusion modes and their corresponding aromatic counterparts, the pericondensed quaterrylenes 6 and 7, were synthesized. Their ground-state electronic structures and physical properties were studied by using various experiments assisted with DFT calculations. The proaromatic p-QDM-bridged perylene monoimide dimer 4 has a singlet biradical ground state with a small singlet/triplet energy gap (−2.97 kcal mol⁻¹), whereas the antiaromatic s-indacene-bridged N-annulated perylene dimer 5 exists as a closed-shell quinoid with an obvious intramolecular charge-transfer character. Both of these dimers showed shorter singlet excited-state lifetimes, larger two-photon-absorption cross sections, and smaller energy gaps than the corresponding aromatic quaterrylene derivatives 6 and 7, respectively. Our studies revealed how the fusion mode and aromaticity affect the ground state and, consequently, the photophysical properties and electronic properties of a series of extended polycyclic hydrocarbon compounds.

Two soluble and stable 1,2:8,9-dibenzozethrene derivatives (3 a,b) are synthesized through a palladium-catalyzed cyclodimerization reaction. X-ray crystallographic analysis shows that these molecules are highly twisted owing to congestion at the cove region. Broken-symmetry DFT calculations predict that they have a singlet biradical ground state with a smaller biradical character and a large singlet–triplet energy gap; these predictions are supported by NMR and electronic absorption measurements. They have small energy gaps and exhibit far-red/near-infrared absorption/emission and amphoteric redox behaviors.

A series of meso-ester-substituted BODIPY derivatives 1–6 are synthesized and characterized. In particular, dyes functionalized with oligo(ethylene glycol) ether styryl or naphthalene vinylene groups at the α positions of the BODIPY core (3–6) become partially soluble in water, and their absorptions and emissions are located in the far-red or near-infrared region. Three synthetic approaches are attempted to access the meso-carboxylic acid (COOH)-substituted BODIPYs 7 and 8 from the meso-ester-substituted BODIPYs. Two feasible synthetic routes are developed successfully, including one short route with only three steps. The meso-COOH-substituted BODIPY 7 is completely soluble in pure water, and its fluorescence maximum reaches around 650 nm with a fluorescence quantum yield of up to 15 %. Time-dependent density functional theory calculations are conducted to understand the structure–optical properties relationship, and it is revealed that the Stokes shift is dependent mainly on the geometric change from the ground state to the first excited singlet state. Furthermore, cell staining tests demonstrate that the meso-ester-substituted BODIPYs (1 and 3–6) and one of the meso-COOH-substituted BODIPYs (8) are very membrane-permeable. These features make these meso-ester- and meso-COOH-substituted BODIPY dyes attractive for bioimaging and biolabeling applications in living cells.

A p-quinodimethane (p-QDM)-bridged porphyrin dimer 1 has been prepared for the first time. An unexpected Michael addition reaction took place when we attempted to synthesize compound 1 by reaction of the cross-conjugated keto-linked porphyrin dimers 8 a and 8 b with alkynyl/aryl Grignard reagents. Alternatively, compound 1 could be successfully prepared by intramolecular Friedel–Crafts alkylation of the diol-linked porphyrin dimer 14 with concomitant oxidation in air. Compound 1 shows intense one-photon absorption (OPA, λ_max=955 nm, ε=45400 M⁻¹ cm⁻¹) and a large two-photon absorption (TPA) cross-section (σ⁽²⁾_max=2080 GM at 1800 nm) in the near-infrared (NIR) region due to its extended π-conjugation and quinoidal character. It also exhibits a short singlet excited-state lifetime of 25 ps. The cyclic voltammogram of 1 displays multiple redox waves with a small electrochemical energy gap of 0.86 eV. The ground-state geometry, electronic structure, and optical properties of 1 have been further studied by density functional theory (DFT) calculations and compared with those of the keto-linked dimer 8 b. This research has revealed that incorporation of a p-QDM unit into the porphyrin framework had a significant impact on its optical and electronic properties, leading to a novel NIR OPA and TPA chromophore.

This Focus Review describes the recent progress, from both theoretical and experimental perspectives, on four types of benzenoid polycyclic hydrocarbons with an open–shell biradical ground state: 1) acenes, 2) periacenes and anthenes, 3) zethrenes, and 4) extended p-quinodimethane derivatives. These interesting molecules have provided excellent platforms to investigate the electronic structures of nanographenes and represent promising candidates for the next generation of molecule-based materials in the field of electronics, spintronics, and non-linear optics. The focus of this article will be put on the structural significance, the physical properties relevant to the open–shell electronic configurations, and potential applications.

Diels–Alder cycloaddition reactions at the bay regions of bisanthene (1) with dienophiles such as 1,4-naphthoquinone have been investigated. The products were submitted to nucleophilic addition followed by reductive aromatization reactions to afford the laterally extended bisanthene derivatives 2 and 3. Attempted synthesis of a larger expanded bisanthene 4 revealed an unexpected hydrogenation reaction at the last reductive aromatization step. Unusual Michael addition was observed on quinone 14, which was obtained by Diels–Alder reaction between 1 and 1,4-anthraquinone. Compounds 1–3 exhibited near-infrared (NIR) absorption and emission with high-to-moderate fluorescent quantum yields. Their structures and absorption spectra were studied by density function theory and non-planar twisted structures were calculated for 2 and 3. All compounds showed amphoteric redox behavior with multiple oxidation/reduction waves. Oxidative titration with SbCl₅ gave stable radical cations, and the process was followed by UV/Vis/NIR spectroscopic measurements. Their photostability was measured and correlated to their different geometries and electronic structures.

The intramolecular electrophilic or thermal cyclization of arylene ethynylene precursors recently became a powerful method for the synthesis of new polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). In this work, we investigated in detail the synthesis and intramolecular cyclization reaction of a series of peri-ethynylene naphthalene oligomers in which the ethynylene units are fixed in close proximity within the naphthalene framework. The high reactivity of these precursors led to simultaneous thermal cyclization reactions, even during their syntheses. Electrophilic cyclizations with iodine were also undertaken. Several new PAHs containing five-membered rings, for example, indeno[2,1-a]phenalene, acenaphtho[1,2-a]pyrene, and benzo- or naphtho-annulated fluoranthene derivatives, were synthesized and their structures were unambiguously determined by X-ray crystallographic analysis. Plausible mechanisms were proposed and it was demonstrated that oligomers most probably underwent intramolecular domino cyclization via either radical or cationic intermediates. The photophysical and electrochemical properties of these new PAHs were investigated and some of them displayed amphoteric redox behavior, due to the existence of five-membered rings.