Diradicaloid Character Research Articles

Inverse Design of Singlet Fission Materials with Uncertainty-Controlled Genetic Optimization.

Singlet fission has shown potential for boosting the power conversion efficiency of solar cells, but the scarcity of suitable molecular materials hinders its implementation. We introduce an uncertainty-controlled genetic algorithm (ucGA) based on ensemble machine learning predictions from different molecular representations that concurrently optimizes excited state energies, synthesizability, and singlet exciton size for the discovery of singlet fission materials. The ucGA allows us to efficiently explore the chemical space spanned by the reFORMED fragment database, which consists of 45,000 cores and 5,000 substituents derived from crystallographic structures assembled in the FORMED repository. Running the ucGA in an exploitative setup performs local optimization on variations of known singlet fission scaffolds, such as acenes. In an explorative mode, hitherto unknown candidates displaying excellent excited state properties for singlet fission are generated. We suggest a class of heteroatom-rich mesoionic compounds as acceptors for charge-transfer mediated singlet fission. When included in larger conjugated donor-acceptor systems, these units exhibit strong localization of the triplet state, favorable diradicaloid character and suitable triplet energies for exciton injection into semiconductor solar cells. As the proposed candidates are composed of fragments from synthesized molecules, they are likely synthetically accessible.

Inverse Design of Singlet Fission Materials with Uncertainty‐Controlled Genetic Optimization

Singlet fission has shown potential for boosting the power conversion efficiency of solar cells, but the scarcity of suitable molecular materials hinders its implementation. We introduce an uncertainty‐controlled genetic algorithm (ucGA) based on ensemble machine learning predictions from different molecular representations that concurrently optimizes excited state energies, synthesizability, and singlet exciton size for the discovery of singlet fission materials. The ucGA allows us to efficiently explore the chemical space spanned by the reFORMED fragment database, which consists of 45,000 cores and 5,000 substituents derived from crystallographic structures assembled in the FORMED repository. Running the ucGA in an exploitative setup performs local optimization on variations of known singlet fission scaffolds, such as acenes. In an explorative mode, hitherto unknown candidates displaying excellent excited state properties for singlet fission are generated. We suggest a class of heteroatom‐rich mesoionic compounds as acceptors for charge‐transfer mediated singlet fission. When included in larger conjugated donor‐acceptor systems, these units exhibit strong localization of the triplet state, favorable diradicaloid character and suitable triplet energies for exciton injection into semiconductor solar cells. As the proposed candidates are composed of fragments from synthesized molecules, they are likely synthetically accessible.

Breaking Global Diatropic Current to Tame Diradicaloid Character: Thiele's Hydrocarbon Under Macrocyclic Constraints

AbstractA diradical/biradical character of organic derivatives is one of the key aspects of contemporary research focusing on the fundamental studies followed by potential applicability relying on the unique optical, electronic, or magnetic properties assigned to unpaired electrons. A precise involvement of two p‐phenylenes into a cyclophane‐like conjugated, diatropic system creates a flexible molecule with the two different characters of both subunits (benzene and quinone) imprinting into the structure a Kekulé delocalized system. A dynamic of both carbocyclic subunits, and their mutual interaction generates a singlet open‐shell state (J=−1.25 kcal/mol) as documented spectroscopically (NMR and EPR). The extended theoretical analysis has proved a correlation between dihedral angle and the diradicaloid character that shifts from a closed‐shell singlet to an open‐shell state, eventually showing the y0=0.86 for 78 degrees and ΔEST=−0.34 kcal/mol.

Breaking Global Diatropic Current to Tame Diradicaloid Character: Thiele's Hydrocarbon Under Macrocyclic Constraints.

A diradical/biradical character of organic derivatives is one of the key aspects of contemporary research focusing on the fundamental studies followed by potential applicability relying on the unique optical, electronic, or magnetic properties assigned to unpaired electrons. A precise involvement of two p-phenylenes into a cyclophane-like conjugated, diatropic system creates a flexible molecule with the two different characters of both subunits (benzene and quinone) imprinting into the structure a Kekulé delocalized system. A dynamic of both carbocyclic subunits, and their mutual interaction generates a singlet open-shell state (J=-1.25 kcal/mol) as documented spectroscopically (NMR and EPR). The extended theoretical analysis has proved a correlation between dihedral angle and the diradicaloid character that shifts from a closed-shell singlet to an open-shell state, eventually showing the y0=0.86 for 78 degrees and ΔEST=-0.34 kcal/mol.

Extremely Long C-C Bonds Predicted beyond 2.0 Å.

A number of conjugated molecules are designed with extremely long single C-C bonds beyond 2.0 Å. Some of the investigated molecules are based on analogues to the recently discovered molecule by Kubo et al. These bonds are analyzed by a variety of indices in addition to their equilibrium bond length including the Wiberg bond index, bond dissociation energy (BDE), and measures of diradicaloid character. All unrestricted DFT calculations indicate no diradical character supported by high-level multireference calculations. Finally, NFOD was computed through fractional orbital density (FOD) calculations and used to compare relative differences of diradicaloid character across twisted molecules without central C-C bonding and those with extremely elongated C-C bonds using a comparison with the C-C bond breaking in ethane. No example of direct C-C bonds beyond 2.4 Å are seen in the computational modeling; however, extremely stretched C-C bonds in the vicinity of 2.2 Å are predicted to be achievable with a BDE of 15-25 kcal mol-1.

Zwitterion or diradicaloid? The case of diazenium betaines derived from DPPH

Starting from the well-known stable free radical 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), novel diazenium betaines were obtained. These were characterized by NMR, IR, MS, ESR, CV, UV–Vis, and single crystal X-ray diffraction. A discussion about their diradicaloid character is also described.

Highly conducting single-molecule topological insulators based on mono- and di-radical cations.

Single-molecule topological insulators are promising candidates as conducting wires over nanometre length scales. A key advantage is their ability to exhibit quasi-metallic transport, in contrast to conjugated molecular wires which typically exhibit a low conductance that decays as the wire length increases. Here, we study a family of oligophenylene-bridged bis(triarylamines) with tunable and stable mono- or di-radicaloid character. These wires can undergo one- and two-electron chemical oxidations to the corresponding mono-cation and di-cation, respectively. We show that the oxidized wires exhibit reversed conductance decay with increasing length, consistent with the expectation for Su-Schrieffer-Heeger-type one-dimensional topological insulators. The 2.6-nm-long di-cation reported here displays a conductance greater than 0.1G0, where G0 is the conductance quantum, a factor of 5,400 greater than the neutral form. The observed conductance-length relationship is similar between the mono-cation and di-cation series. Density functional theory calculations elucidate how the frontier orbitals and delocalization of radicals facilitate the observed non-classical quasi-metallic behaviour.

Recent Advances in Molecular Design of Organic Thermoelectric Materials

Recent Advances in Molecular Design of Organic Thermoelectric Materials

Singlet Fission in Carbene‐Derived Diradicaloids

Herein, we present a new class of singlet fission (SF) materials based on diradicaloids of carbene scaffolds, namely cyclic (alkyl)(amino)carbenes (CAACs). Our modular approach allows the tuning of two key SF criteria: the steric factor and the diradical character. In turn, we modified the energy landscapes of excited states in a systematic manner to accommodate the needs for SF. We report the first example of intermolecular SF in solution by dimer self‐assembly at cryogenic temperatures.

Carbene derived diradicaloids - building blocks for singlet fission?

Organic singlet diradicaloids promise application in non-linear optics, electronic devices and singlet fission. The stabilization of carbon allotropes/cumulenes (C1, C2, C4) by carbenes has been equally an area of high activity. Combining these fields, we showed recently that carbene scaffolds allow as well for the design of diradicaloids. Herein, we report a comprehensive computational investigation (CASSCF/NEVPT2; fractional occupation DFT) on the electronic properties of carbene-bridge-carbene type diradicaloids. We delineate how to adjust the properties of these ensembles through the choice of carbene and bridge and show that already a short C2 bridge results in remarkable diradicaloid character. The choice of the carbene separately tunes the energies of the S1 and T1 excited states, whereas the bridge adjusts the overall energy level of the excited states. Accordingly, we develop guidelines on how to tailor the electronic properties of these molecules. Of particular note, fractional occupation DFT is an excellent tool to predict singlet-triplet gaps.

Valence Bond Theory Reveals Hidden Delocalized Diradical Character of Polyenes.

The nature of the electronic-structure of polyenes, their delocalization features, and potential diradicaloid characters constitute a fundamental problem in chemistry. To address this problem, we used valence bond self-consistent field (VBSCF) calculations and modeling of polyenes, C2nH2n+2 (n = 2-10). The theoretical treatment shows that starting with n = 5, the polyene's wave function is mainly a shifting 1,4-diradicaloid, a character that increases as the chain length increases, while the contribution of the fundamental Lewis structure with alternating double and single bonds (1) decays quite fast and becomes minor relative to the diradicaloid pack. We show how, nevertheless, it is this wave function that predicts that polyenes will still exhibit alternating short/long CC bonds like the fundamental structure 1. Furthermore, despite the decay of the VB contribution of 1, it remains the single structure with the largest weight among all the individual structures. The mixing of all the 1,4-diradicaloid structures into 1 follows perturbation theory rules, with the result that the delocalization energy due to this mixing is additive and behaves as a linear function of the number of the double bonds, ΔEdel = -6.9 × n (kcal mol-1). The VB modeling shows that while the conjugation stabilizes structure 1, this stabilization energy is energetically overridden by the Pauli repulsion between two adjacent double bonds. Nevertheless, unsubstituted polyenes remain planar; this observation is addressed. Potential manifestations of the diradicaloid nature of polyenes are discussed, and it is concluded that the diradicaloid character is clearly not a well-defined physical property as in real diradicals. Thus, we went full circle to realize that our philosophical question may not be strictly resolved. The localized/delocalized properties of polyenes seem to define a "chemical duality principle". This duality of molecular wave functions is a ubiquitous beguiling phenomenon.

Visible absorbing croconium dyes with intramolecular hydrogen bonding: A combined experimental and computational study

Croconium molecules CR1-CR4 with break-in conjugation (CN Bonding) was synthesized by condensation of croconic acid and arylamines. By using combined experimental and theoretical methods like UV–visible spectra, DFT and TDDFT studies, we have characterized electronic absorption properties. The reported molecules are having absorption in visible region ranging from 450 to 550 nm with large extinction coefficient (2.5–5.0 × 104 M−1 cm−1). We find that CR2 and CR4 are showing 50 to 100 nm red shifted absorption than CR1 and CR3. This red shift is possibly due to presence of intramolecular hydrogen bonding in CR2 and CR4. Further this is supported by DFT studies, in case of CR2 and CR4 shows strong intramolecular hydrogen bonding between oxygen of carboxylate group (at ortho position of phenyl ring) and hydrogen of nitrogen attached to the central croconate ring. It is also observed that, there is small diradicaloid character in these molecules. This study is helpful in design and synthesis of new croconium dyes which are useful in materials applications.

Oligomers of cyclopentadithiophene-vinylene in aromatic and quinoidal versions and redox species with intermediate forms.

A new series of π-conjugated oligomers based on the 4,4 dihexyl-4H-cyclopenta[2,1-b:3,4-b']dithiophene vinylene repeating unit has been prepared and characterized by X-ray, electrochemical, spectroscopic (UV-Vis absorption, emission and Raman) and density functional theory methods. The oligomers in their neutral, oxidized and reduced forms have been investigated. The neutral compounds show a longer mean conjugation length than oligothiophenes and oligothiophene-vinylenes and display very rich redox chemistry with the stabilization of polycationic states of which the radical cations and dications are strong NIR absorbers, the latter displaying singlet diradicaloid character. An interesting complementarity between the sequence of aromatic-quinoidal structural segments in the radical cations and dications has been described and interpreted. Two derivatives with the 4,4 dihexyl-4H-cyclopenta[2,1-b:3,4-b']dithiophene vinylene unit, disubstituted either with electron donor, bis(triaryl amino) groups, or acceptors bis(dicyano-methylene) caps enforcing a quinoidal structure in the dithiophene-vinylene bridge, have been also synthesized and characterized. The radical cation of the triarylamine compound and the radical anion of the tetracyano compound similarly display hole and electron charge localization, or confinement, in the nitrogen and dicyano surrounding parts, or class II mixed valence systems, while their dication and dianion species, conversely, are open-shell diradical (i.e., polaron pair) and closed-shell (i.e., bipolaron), respectively. The preparation of these new π-conjugated oligomers gives way to the realization of compounds with new electronic properties and unique structures potentially exploitable in organic electronics.

Hetero-π-Dimers of Phenalenyls.

Homogeneous π-stacking dimers of phenalenyl and its derivatives have gained tremendous interest as components of conducting organic materials. For the first time, we investigate theoretically heterogeneous phenalenyl π-dimers. Key parameters, including charge transfer, interaction energy, singly occupied molecular orbital (SOMO) energy, and spin density, are studied with the help of density functional theory. We find that the amount of charge transfer between the two monomers in phenalenyl π-dimers correlates with the difference in the SOMO energies of the constituent monomers, where the SOMO energy plays the role of a monomer (group) electronegativity index. Charge transfer plays an important role in stabilizing the heterodimers while maintaining a significant diradicaloid character. For five heterodimers the interaction energy is found to be as large as -30 to -50 kcal mol(-1) . The presented correlation between the monomer SOMO energy levels and their stability can provide a simple predictive tool to design new highly stable π-stacking heterodimers.

Reactivity and Mechanism of a Mechanically Activated anti-Woodward-Hoffmann-DePuy Reaction.

Mechanical forces, applied via covalent polymer mechanochemistry, have been used to bias reaction pathways and activate otherwise inaccessible reactions. Here, single-molecule polymer mechanochemistry is used to induce the disrotatory outward ring opening of a cis-dialkyl substituted syn-chloro-gem-chlorofluorocyclopropane, in violation of the Woodward-Hoffmann-DePuy (WHD) rule. The forces required to trigger the anti-WHD pathway on the ∼100 ms time scale of the experiment are about 200 pN greater than those involved in the WHD favored process (1290 vs 1500 pN). The kinetics are complemented by tension trapping experiments that suggest that the reaction proceeds along a reaction pathway that generates substantial diradicaloid character.

Study of the Diradicaloid Character in a Prototypical Pancake‐Bonded Dimer: The Stacked Tetracyanoethylene (TCNE) Anion Dimer and the Neutral K2TCNE2 Complex

The π-bonded tetracyanoethylene anion dimer (TCNE2(2-)) and the neutral K2TCNE2 system have been investigated to obtain new insights into the unique features of two-electron multicenter (2e-mc) π-pancake bonding. The inter-radical interaction leads to a significant diradicaloid character described by two singly occupied molecular orbitals (SOMOs) of the monomers. A highly correlated approach, the multireference averaged quadratic coupled-cluster (MR-AQCC) method, has been used to achieve a balanced description of the different types of electron correlation that occur in this system. The analysis of the interaction energies for the two systems in the singlet and the lowest triplet states and of the unpaired electron densities demonstrate the importance of diradical π bonding in addition to the conventional van der Waals interactions that occur in intermolecular interactions. In this analysis, the separation of the repulsive Coulomb interaction energies from the remaining terms turned out to be a crucial prerequisite to achieve consistent results. Our calculations also confirm that the driving force behind the energetic stability of the pancake bonds predominantly derives from the overlap of the SOMO-SOMO bonding interaction.

Acyclic Germylones: Congeners of Allenes with a Central Germanium Atom

The cyclic alkyl(amino) carbene (cAAC:)-stabilized acyclic germylones (Me2-cAAC:)2Ge (1) and (Cy2-cAAC:)2Ge (2) were prepared utilizing a one-pot synthesis of GeCl2(dioxane), cAAC:, and KC8 in a 1:2:2.1 molar ratio. Dark green crystals of compounds 1 and 2 were produced in 75 and 70% yields, respectively. The reported methods for the preparation of the corresponding silicon compounds turned out to be not applicable in the case of germanium. The single-crystal X-ray structures of 1 and 2 feature the C-Ge-C bent backbone, which possesses a three-center two-electron π-bond system. Compounds 1 and 2 are the first acyclic germylones containing each one germanium atom and two cAAC: molecules. EPR measurements on compounds 1 and 2 confirmed the singlet spin ground state. DFT calculations on 1/2 revealed that the singlet ground state is more stable by ~16 to 18 kcal mol(-1) than that of the triplet state. First and second proton affinity values were theoretically calculated to be of 265.8 (1)/267.1 (2) and 180.4 (1)/183.8 (2) kcal mol(-1), respectively. Further calculations, which were performed at different levels suggest a singlet diradicaloid character of 1 and 2. The TD-DFT calculations exhibit an absorption band at ~655 nm in n-hexane solution that originates from the diradicaloid character of germylones 1 and 2.

On the Stability, Electronic Structure, and Nonlinear Optical Properties of HXeOXeF and FXeOXeF

The electronic ground state, stability, and linear and nonlinear optical properties of HXeOXeF and FXeOXeF have been studied theoretically by employing complete active space valence bond (CASVB), multistate complete active space perturbation theory (MS-CASPT2), and coupled cluster methods. It is shown that the oxygen inserted between the two Xe atoms significantly modifies the ground-state electronic configuration of the formed derivative by increasing the closed-shell contribution (σ(2)) and removing the diradicaloid character observed in HXe(2)F. The electronic charge distribution has been analyzed by employing the atoms-in-molecules (AIM) method. The dissociation channels of HXeOXeF and FXeOXeF have been studied in detail. It was found that these compounds are metastable, protected by substantial energy barriers and, thus, they can be prepared under appropriate conditions. Both two- and three-body dissociation reactions have been considered. The effects of inserting O in HXe(2)F and substituting H (HXeOXeF) by F, leading to FXeOXeF, on the energy barriers are discussed. The significant effects of the inserted oxygen on the polarizability and even more on the first hyperpolarizability have been computed and rationalized.

On the Electronic Structure of H-Ng-Ng-F (Ng = Ar, Kr, Xe) and the Nonlinear Optical Properties of HXe2F.

The electronic ground state of H-Ng-Ng-F (Ng = Ar, Kr, Xe) has been studied theoretically by employing the ab initio complete active space valence bond (CASVB) and multi-state complete active space perturbation theory (MS-CASPT2) methods. Both levels of theory confirm the diradicaloid character (DC) of the HNg2F ground state, increasing in the order Ar > Kr > Xe. The very significant effect of the first and, even more, the second Xe atom on the (hyper)polarizabilities has been shown and interpreted. Thus, the present results demonstrate a mechanism for producing very large (hyper)polarizabilities.

Topological Dependence of the Magnetic Exchange Coupling in Arylethynyl-Bridged Organometallic Diradicals Containing [(η2-dppe)(η5-C5Me5)FeIII]+ Fragments

We have investigated the spin distribution and determined the magnetic exchange coupling J(ab) (defined according to the following Hamiltonian: H(spin) = -2J(ab)S(a).S(b)) for three arylethynyl-bridged organoiron(III) diradicals containing [(eta(2)-dppe)(eta(5)-C(5)Me(5))Fe(III)](+) fragments. Considering the distance separating the Fe(III) centers (>or=11 A), remarkably large intramolecular magnetic interactions between unpaired spins were found for two of them. Thus, an antiferromagnetic coupling (J(ab)) of ca. -190 cm(-1) was experimentally determined for the binuclear Fe(III) species featuring a 1,4-diethynylbenzene bridge 1[PF(6)](2), while a ferromagnetic interaction of over +150 cm(-1) was evidenced for its 1,3-substitued analogue 2[PF(6)](2). We also show that a much weaker interaction (0 > J(ab) >or= -1 cm(-1)) takes place in the 4,4'-biphenyl analogue of 1[PF(6)](2) (3[PF(6)](2)), evidencing that insertion of an additional 1,4-phenylene unit in the bridge severely disrupts the magnetic communication in these diradicals. With the help of NMR and density functional theory, the magnetic properties of these compounds were rationalized and compared to those of the corresponding mononuclear Fe(III) relatives 4[PF(6)] and 5[PF(6)]. Finally, it is shown that, for all of these dinuclear Fe(III) complexes, the structural changes between singlet and triplet spin isomers remain very small regarding the carbon-rich bridge. Thus, even for a strongly coupled diradical such as 1[PF(6)](2), a dominant diradicaloid character dominates the valence-bond description of the singlet state unpaired electrons.