Crystal structure and electronic states of dithieno[3,2-b:2',3'-d]thiophene

Selenophene-containing heterotriacenes by a C-Se coupling/cyclization reaction

A new novel family of tricyclic sulfur and/or selenium-containing heterotriacenes 2-4 with an increasing number of selenium (Se) atoms is presented. The heterotriacene derivatives were synthesized in multistep synthetic routes and the crucial cyclization steps to the stable and soluble fused systems were achieved by copper-catalyzed C-S and C-Se coupling/cyclization reactions. Structures and packing motifs in the solid state were elucidated by single crystal X-ray analysis and XRD powder measurements. Comparison of the optoelectronic properties provides interesting structure-property relationships and gives valuable insights into the role of heteroatoms within the series of the heterotriacenes. Electrooxidative polymerization led to the corresponding poly(heterotriacene)s P2-P4.

Intermolecular interactions of oligothienoacenes: Do S⋯S interactions positively contribute to crystal structures of sulfur-containing aromatic molecules?

Intermolecular interactions in the crystals of tetra- and penta-thienoacene were studied using ab initio molecular orbital calculations for evaluating the magnitude of characteristic S⋯S interactions with great attention paid to their origin. The interactions between the π-stacked neighboring molecules are significantly greater than those between the neighboring molecules exhibiting the S⋯S contact, although it has sometimes been claimed that the S⋯S interactions play important roles in adjusting the molecular arrangement of sulfur-containing polycyclic aromatic molecules in the crystals owing to short S⋯S contacts. The coupled cluster calculations with single and double substitutions with noniterative triple excitation interaction energies at the basis set limit estimated for the π-stacked and S⋯S contacted neighboring molecules in the tetrathienoacene crystal are -11.17 and -4.27 kcal/mol, respectively. Those for π-stacked molecules in the pentathienoacene crystal is -14.38 kcal/mol, while those for S⋯S contacted molecules are -7.02 and -6.74 kcal/mol. The dispersion interaction is the major source of the attraction between the π-stacked and S⋯S contacted molecules, while the orbital-orbital interactions are repulsive: The orbital-orbital interactions, which are significant for charge carrier transport properties, are not much more than the results of the short S⋯S contact caused by the strong dispersion interactions. Besides, the intermolecular interaction energy calculated for a trithienoacene dimer has strong orientation dependence.

The effects of oxygenation on the optical properties of dimethyl-dithienothiophenes: Comparison between experiments and first-principles calculations

Modifications of the optical properties of dimethyl-dithienothiophenes due to the oxygen functionalization of the central sulfur atom are investigated. We have measured the absorption, photoluminescence (PL) and PL excitation spectra, the PL quantum efficiencies, and the PL decay times. These experimental results are interpreted and compared with first-principles time-dependent density-functional theory calculations, which predict, for the considered systems, excitation and emission energies with an accuracy of 0.1 eV. It is found that the oxygenation strongly changes optical and photophysical properties. These effects are related to the modifications of the energetically lowest-unoccupied molecular orbital and the energetically second highest occupied one, which change the relative position of the two lowest singlet and triplet excited states.