Dr. Milan Kivala: Heteroatom-doped molecular architectures

ABSTRACT

In the context of recent developments in the field of carbon allotropes, planar and nonplanar polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have been recognized as defined molecular fragments of graphene, fullerenes, and carbon nanotubes and have hence become attractive objects for experimental and theoretical studies. Furthermore, PAHs are due to their extended π-conjugation particularly interesting for applications in organic electronic devices. The optoelectronic (e.g., band gaps) and self-assembly properties of these π-systems can be tuned by either peripheral substitution or, more efficiently, by introduction of heteroatoms directly into their sp2-carbon skeletons.

In this lecture, our synthetic efforts towards unprecedented nitrogen- and phosphorus-doped π-conjugated scaffolds will be presented. For example, triarylamine and triarylphosphine derivatives with different bridging moieties 1 and 2, respectively, show not only appealing optoelectronic properties but also represent versatile platforms for further synthetic transformations towards expanded molecular architectures with desired functions.