Issue 15, 2018

Pyrimidine-containing β-iminoenolate difluoroboron complexes acting as non-traditional π-gelators and mechanofluorochromic dyes

Abstract

New pyrimidine-containing β-iminoenolates and their difluoroboron complexes were synthesized. It was found that the ligand and the complex bearing tert-butyl could self-assemble into organogels in methylcyclohexane/1,4-dioxane and other solvents, but no organogel could be formed from the carbazole derivatives. This suggested that tert-butyl played a key role in the gel formation. It should be noted that no traditional gelation moiety was involved in the fully conjugated TCPPA ((Z)-2-(6-chloropyrimidin-4-yl)-1-(4-(3,6-di-tert-butyl-9H-carbazol-9-yl)phenyl)et-hen-1-ol) and TCPPAB (6-chloro-3-(4-(3,6-di-tert-butyl-9H-carbazol-9-yl)phenyl)-1,1-diflu-oro-1H-1l4,9l4-pyrimido[1,6-c][1,3,2]oxazaborinine), and π–π interactions were found to be the main driving forces for the gelation. Moreover, the xerogel-based film of TCPPAB emitting strong yellow light could be used as a “turn-off” fluorescent sensor to detect TFA vapor with the decay time and detection limit of 0.8 s and 260 ppb, respectively. On the other hand, the β-iminoenolate difluoroboron complexes exhibited reversible mechanofluorochromic behavior. The as-synthesized crystals of TCPPAB emitted strong green light and could be transformed into powders emitting orange light upon grinding, and the fluorescence could be recovered when the ground powders were fumed with CH2Cl2. Such reversible MFC processes for TCPPAB were suggested to have resulted from the transformation between crystalline and amorphous states. Herein, we provide a strategy for designing new multi-stimuli-responsive soft materials.

Graphical abstract: Pyrimidine-containing β-iminoenolate difluoroboron complexes acting as non-traditional π-gelators and mechanofluorochromic dyes

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
28 Mar 2018
Accepted
21 Jun 2018
First published
22 Jun 2018

New J. Chem., 2018,42, 12882-12890

Pyrimidine-containing β-iminoenolate difluoroboron complexes acting as non-traditional π-gelators and mechanofluorochromic dyes

W. Mi, Z. Qu, J. Sun, F. Zhang, L. Zhai, J. Zhao and K. Ye, New J. Chem., 2018, 42, 12882 DOI: 10.1039/C8NJ01508B

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