Abstract
Boron-containing organic compounds are well accepted as a class of compounds having excellent photophysical properties. In addition to the unique photophysical properties, the ease of synthesis and structural robustness make tetracoordinate boron complexes ideal for a variety of applications. While significant light has been thrown on their luminescence properties, there is no collective attention to their supramolecular chemistry. In this mini review, we discuss the progress made in the supramolecular chemistry of these compounds which includes their utility as building blocks for liquid crystalline materials and gels largely driven by various non-covalent interactions like H-bonding, CH-π interactions, BF-π interactions and Van der Waals forces. The organoboron compounds presented here are prepared from easy-to-synthesize chelating units such as imines, diiminates, ketoiminates and diketonates. Moreover, the presence of heteroatoms such as nitrogen, oxygen and sulfur, and the presence of aromatic rings facilitate non-covalent interactions which not only favor their formation but also helps to stabilize the self-assembled structures.
Highlights
Organoboron compounds are typically employed in organic chemistry as reagents and catalysts
10 containing both the tert-butyl and trifluoromethyl group formed gels with a three dimensional network of intertwined nanofibers. These nanofibres were observed to be emissive due to the formation of J-aggregates in the gel state and exhibited reversible piezofluorochromic behavior. Another gelator based on balanced π-π interactions was reported by Wang et al which consisted of triphenylamine-functionalized boron complexes 11a and 11b containing 2-(2′-pyridyl)imidazole moieties that self-assembled into gels and showed piezochromic property wherein dried gel exhibited better sensitivity to pressure as compared to the regular crystalline powder (Wang et al, 2017)
In this mini-review, we have summarized the recent developments in the supramolecular chemistry of tetracoordinate boron-containing organic molecules
Summary
Organoboron compounds are typically employed in organic chemistry as reagents and catalysts. The presence of hetero atoms in boron-containing organic compounds along with the π-conjugated core offers a stable platform for the formation of gels and mesogens. This mini-review focusses on the supramolecular assemblies such as gels and liquid crystals formed by tetra-coordinate boron-containing organic molecules containing chelates such as imines, diiminates, ketoiminates and diketonates.
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