Zethrene and expanded zethrenes with tunable ground states and physical properties

Abstract

Abstract Zethrene and its related molecules have attracted much attention from the perspectives of both synthetic chemistry and materials science. One characteristic feature of these molecules is the existence of two distinct resonance structures, a closed-shell quinoidal form and an open-shell biradical form, which will lead to a significant biradical contribution to the ground-state electronic configuration. As a result, zethrene-based molecules exhibit unique optical, electronic, and magnetic properties, which open the door for a diversity of applications in the field of electronics, nonlinear optics, and spintronics.