TY - JOUR A1 - Kim, Jin Hong A1 - Liess, Andreas A1 - Stolte, Matthias A1 - Krause, Ana-Maria A1 - Stepanenko, Vladimir A1 - Zhong, Chuwei A1 - Bialas, David A1 - Spano, Frank A1 - Würthner, Frank T1 - An Efficient Narrowband Near-Infrared at 1040 nm Organic Photodetector Realized by Intermolecular Charge Transfer Mediated Coupling Based on a Squaraine Dye JF - Advanced Materials N2 - A highly sensitive short-wave infrared (SWIR, λ > 1000 nm) organic photodiode (OPD) is described based on a well-organized nanocrystalline bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) active layer composed of a dicyanovinyl-functionalized squaraine dye (SQ-H) donor material in combination with PC\(_{61}\)BM. Through thermal annealing, dipolar SQ-H chromophores self-assemble in a nanoscale structure with intermolecular charge transfer mediated coupling, resulting in a redshifted and narrow absorption band at 1040 nm as well as enhanced charge carrier mobility. The optimized OPD exhibits an external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 12.3% and a full-width at half-maximum of only 85 nm (815 cm\(^{-1}\)) at 1050 nm under 0 V, which is the first efficient SWIR OPD based on J-type aggregates. Photoplethysmography application for heart-rate monitoring is successfully demonstrated on flexible substrates without applying reverse bias, indicating the potential of OPDs based on short-range coupled dye aggregates for low-power operating wearable applications. KW - squaraine dyes KW - crystal engineering KW - J-aggregates KW - near-infrared sensitivity KW - organic photodiodes Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-256374 VL - 33 IS - 26 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Spenst, Peter A1 - Young, Ryan M. A1 - Wasielewski, Michael R. A1 - Würthner, Frank T1 - Guest and solvent modulated photo-driven charge separation and triplet generation in a perylene bisimide cyclophane JF - Chemical Science N2 - Cofacial positioning of two perylene bisimide (PBI) chromophores at a distance of 6.5 angstrom in a cyclophane structure prohibits the otherwise common excimer formation and directs photoexcited singlet state relaxation towards intramolecular symmetry-breaking charge separation (τ\(_{CS}\) = 161 +/- 4 ps) in polar CH\(_2\)Cl\(_2\), which is thermodynamically favored with a Gibbs free energy of ΔG\(_{CS}\) = -0.32 eV. The charges then recombine slowly in τ\(_{CR}\) = 8.90 +/- 0.06 ns to form the PBI triplet excited state, which can be used subsequently to generate singlet oxygen in 27% quantum yield. This sequence of events is eliminated by dissolving the PBI cyclophane in non-polar toluene, where only excited singlet state decay occurs. In contrast, complexation of electron-rich aromatic hydrocarbons by the host PBI cyclophane followed by photoexcitation of PBI results in ultrafast electron transfer (<10 ps) from the guest to the PBI in CH\(_2\)Cl\(_2\). The rate constants for charge separation and recombination increase as the guest molecules become easier to oxidize, demonstrating that charge separation occurs close to the peak of the Marcus curve and the recombination lies far into the Marcus inverted region. KW - photoinduced electron transfer KW - Marcus inverted region KW - cyclic perylene bisimide KW - PBI cyclophane Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-191252 VL - 7 IS - 8 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Plötz, P.-A. A1 - Polyutov, S. P. A1 - Ivanov, S. D. A1 - Fennel, F. A1 - Wolter, S. A1 - Niehaus, T. A1 - Xie, Z. A1 - Lochbrunner, S. A1 - Würthner, Frank A1 - Kühn, O. T1 - Biphasic aggregation of a perylene bisimide dye identified by exciton-vibrational spectra JF - Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics N2 - The quantum efficiency of light emission is a crucial parameter of supramolecular aggregates that can be tuned by the molecular design of the monomeric species. Here, we report on a strong variation of the fluorescence quantum yield due to different phases of aggregation for the case of a perylene bisimide dye. In particular, a change of the dominant aggregation character from H- to J-type within the first aggregation steps is found, explaining the observed dramatic change in quantum yield. This behaviour is rationalised by means of a systematic study of the intermolecular potential energy surfaces using the time-dependent density functional based tight-binding (TD-DFTB) method. This provides a correlation between structural changes and a coupling strength and supports the notion of H- type stacked dimers and J-type stack-slipped dimers. The exciton-vibrational level structure is modelled by means of an excitonic dimer model including two effective vibrational modes per monomer. Calculated absorption and fluorescence spectra are found to be in reasonable agreement with experimental ones, thus supporting the conclusion on the aggregation behaviour. KW - Potential-energy curves KW - Simulations KW - Molecular-dynamics KW - Systems KW - Fluorescence KW - Sracking KW - Pathway KW - Dimers KW - State Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-187387 VL - 18 IS - 36 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Meza-Chincha, Ana-Lucia A1 - Lindner, Joachim O. A1 - Schindler, Dorothee A1 - Schmidt, David A1 - Krause, Ana-Maria A1 - Röhr, Merle I. S. A1 - Mitrić, Roland A1 - Würthner, Frank T1 - Impact of substituents on molecular properties and catalytic activities of trinuclear Ru macrocycles in water oxidation N2 - Herein we report a broad series of new trinuclear supramolecular Ru(bda) macrocycles bearing different substituents at the axial or equatorial ligands which enabled investigation of substituent effects on the catalytic activities in chemical and photocatalytic water oxidation. Our detailed investigations revealed that the activities of these functionalized macrocycles in water oxidation are significantly affected by the position at which the substituents were introduced. Interestingly, this effect could not be explained based on the redox properties of the catalysts since these are not markedly influenced by the functionalization of the ligands. Instead, detailed investigations by X-ray crystal structure analysis and theoretical simulations showed that conformational changes imparted by the substituents are responsible for the variation of catalytic activities of the Ru macrocycles. For the first time, macrocyclic structure of this class of water oxidation catalysts is unequivocally confirmed and experimental indication for a hydrogen-bonded water network present in the cavity of the macrocycles is provided by crystal structure analysis. We ascribe the high catalytic efficiency of our Ru(bda) macrocycles to cooperative proton abstractions facilitated by such a network of preorganized water molecules in their cavity, which is reminiscent of catalytic activities of enzymes at active sites. KW - water oxidation KW - self-assembly KW - solar fuels KW - supramolecular materials KW - catalysis Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-204653 UR - https://doi.org/10.1039/D0SC01097A SN - 2041-6539 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hoche, Joscha A1 - Schulz, Alexander A1 - Dietrich, Lysanne Monika A1 - Humeniuk, Alexander A1 - Stolte, Matthias A1 - Schmidt, David A1 - Brixner, Tobias A1 - Würthner, Frank A1 - Mitric, Roland T1 - The origin of the solvent dependence of fluorescence quantum yields in dipolar merocyanine dyes JF - Chemical Science N2 - Fluorophores with high quantum yields are desired for a variety of applications. Optimization of promising chromophores requires an understanding of the non-radiative decay channels that compete with the emission of photons. We synthesized a new derivative of the famous laser dye 4-dicyanomethylen-2-methyl-6-p-dimethylaminostyryl-4H-pyran (DCM),i.e., merocyanine 4-(dicyanomethylene)-2-tert-butyl-6-[3-(3-butyl-benzothiazol-2-ylidene)1-propenyl]-4H-pyran (DCBT). We measured fluorescence lifetimes and quantum yields in a variety of solvents and found a trend opposite to the energy gap law.This motivated a theoretical investigation into the possible non-radiative decay channels. We propose that a barrier to a conical intersection exists that is very sensitive to the solvent polarity. The conical intersection is characterized by a twisted geometry which allows a subsequent photoisomerization. Transient absorption measurements confirmed the formation of a photoisomer in unpolar solvents, while the measurements of fluorescence quantum yields at low temperature demonstrated the existence of an activation energy barrier. KW - solvent-dependent fluorescence yield Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-198707 UR - https://doi.org/10.1039/C9SC05012D VL - 10 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Gershberg, Jana A1 - Fennel, Franziska A1 - Rehm, Thomas H. A1 - Lochbrunner, Stefan A1 - Würthner, Frank T1 - Anti-cooperative supramolecular polymerization: a new K\(_2\)-K model applied to the self-assembly of perylene bisimide dye proceeding via well-defined hydrogen-bonded dimers JF - Chemical Science N2 - A perylene bisimide dye bearing amide functionalities at the imide positions derived from amino acid L-alanine and a dialkoxy-substituted benzyl amine self-assembles into tightly bound dimers by π-π-stacking and hydrogen bonding in chloroform. In less polar or unpolar solvents like toluene and methylcyclohexane, and in their mixtures, these dimers further self-assemble into extended oligomeric aggregates in an anti-cooperative process in which even numbered aggregates are highly favoured. The stepwise transition from dimers into oligomers can not be properly described by conventional K\(_2\)-K model, and thus a new K\(_2\)-K aggregation model has been developed, which interpretes the present anti-cooperative supramolecular polymerization more appropriately. The newly developed K\(_2\)-K model will be useful to describe self-assembly processes of a plethora of other π-conjugated molecules that are characterized by a favored dimer species. KW - π–π Stacking KW - nucleation elongation KW - upramolecular polymerization process KW - dimerization KW - K2–K model Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-191428 VL - 7 IS - 3 ER - TY - INPR A1 - Stennett, Tom E. A1 - Bissinger, Philipp A1 - Griesbeck, Stefanie A1 - Ullrich, Stefan A1 - Krummenacher, Ivo A1 - Auth, Michael A1 - Sperlich, Andreas A1 - Stolte, Matthias A1 - Radacki, Krzysztof A1 - Yao, Chang-Jiang A1 - Würthner, Frank A1 - Steffen, Andreas A1 - Marder, Todd B. A1 - Braunschweig, Holger T1 - Near-Infrared Quadrupolar Chromophores Combining Three-Coordinate Boron-Based Superdonor and Superacceptor Units T2 - Angewandte Chemie, International Edition N2 - In this work, two new quadrupolar A-π-D-π-A chromophores have been prepared featuring a strongly electron- donating diborene core and strongly electron-accepting dimesitylboryl F(BMes2) and bis(2,4,6-tris(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)boryl (BMes2) end groups. Analysis of the compounds by NMR spectroscopy, X-ray crystallography, cyclic voltammetry and UV-vis-NIR absorption and emission spectroscopy indicated that the compounds possess extended conjugated π-systems spanning their B4C8 cores. The combination of exceptionally potent π-donor (diborene) and π- acceptor (diarylboryl) groups, both based on trigonal boron, leads to very small HOMO-LUMO gaps, resulting in strong absorption in the near-IR region with maxima in THF at 840 and 1092 nm, respectively, and very high extinction coefficients of ca. 120,000 M-1cm-1. Both molecules also display weak near-IR fluorescence with small Stokes shifts. KW - boron KW - near-IR chromophores KW - conjugation KW - low-valent compounds KW - synthesis Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-180391 N1 - This is the pre-peer reviewed version of the following article: T. E. Stennett, P. Bissinger, S. Griesbeck, S. Ullrich, I. Krummenacher, M. Auth, A. Sperlich, M. Stolte, K. Radacki, C.-J. Yao, F. Wuerthner, A. Steffen, T. B. Marder, H. Braunschweig, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2019, 58, 6449. , which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201900889. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Grande, Vincenzo A1 - Soberats, Bartolome A1 - Herbst, Stefanie A1 - Stepanenko, Vladimir A1 - Würthner, Frank T1 - Hydrogen-bonded perylene bisimide J-aggregate aqua material N2 - A new twelvefold methoxy-triethyleneglycol-jacketed tetraphenoxy-perylene bisimide (MEG-PBI) amphiphile was synthesized that self-assembles into two types of supramolecular aggregates in water: red-coloured aggregates of low order and with weak exciton coupling among the PBIs and blue-coloured strongly coupled J-aggregates consisting of a highly ordered hydrogen-bonded triple helix of PBIs. At room temperature this PBI is miscible with water at any proportions which enables the development of robust dye aggregates in solution, in hydrogel states and in lyotropic liquid crystalline states. In the presence of 60–95 wt% water, self-standing coloured hydrogels exhibit colour changes from red to blue accompanied by a fluorescence light-up in the far-red region upon heating in the range of 30–50 °C. This phenomenon is triggered by an entropically driven temperature-induced hydrogen-bond-directed slipped stacking arrangement of the MEG-PBI chromophores within structurally well-defined J-aggregates. This versatile aqua material is the first example of a stable PBI J-aggregate in water. We anticipate that this study will open a new avenue for the development of biocompatible functional materials based on self-assembled dyes and inspire the construction of other hydrogen-bonded supramolecular materials in the highly competitive solvent water. KW - self-assembly KW - dyes KW - aqua material Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-204715 UR - https://doi.org/10.1039/C8SC02409J SN - 2041-6539 VL - 9 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Farrell, Jeffrey M. A1 - Grande, Vincenzo A1 - Schmidt, David A1 - Würthner, Frank T1 - A Highly Warped Heptagon-Containing sp\(^2\) Carbon Scaffold via Vinylnaphthyl π-Extension JF - Angewandte Chemie International Edition N2 - A new strategy is demonstrated for the synthesis of warped, negatively curved, all‐sp\(^2\)‐carbon π‐scaffolds. Multifold C−C coupling reactions are used to transform a polyaromatic borinic acid into a saddle‐shaped polyaromatic hydrocarbon (2 ) bearing two heptagonal rings. Notably, this Schwarzite substructure is synthesized in only two steps from an unfunctionalized alkene. A highly warped structure of 2 was revealed by X‐ray crystallographic studies and pronounced flexibility of this π‐scaffold was ascertained by experimental and computational studies. Compound 2 exhibits excellent solubility, visible range absorption and fluorescence, and readily undergoes two reversible one‐electron oxidations at mild potentials. KW - arenes KW - carbon KW - C-C coupling KW - curvature KW - polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-206682 VL - 58 IS - 46 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Görl, Daniel A1 - Soberats, Bartolome A1 - Herbst, Stefanie A1 - Stepanenko, Vladimir A1 - Würthner, Frank T1 - Perylene bisimide hydrogels and lyotropic liquid crystals with temperature-responsive color change JF - Chemical Science N2 - The self-assembly of perylene bisimide (PBI) dyes bearing oligo ethylene glycol (OEG) units in water affords responsive functional nanostructures characterized by their lower critical solution temperature (LCST). Tuning of the LCST is realized by a supramolecular approach that relies on two structurally closely related PBI–OEG molecules. The two PBIs socially co-assemble in water and the resulting nanostructures exhibit a single LCST in between the transition temperatures of the aggregates formed by single components. This permits to precisely tune the transition from a hydrogel to a lyotropic liquid crystal state at temperatures between 26 and 51 °C by adjusting the molar fraction of the two PBIs. Owing to concomitant changes in PBI–PBI interactions this phase transition affords a pronounced color change with “fluorescence-on” response that can be utilized as a smart temperature sensory system. KW - perylene bisimide hydrogels Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-162459 VL - 7 IS - 11 ER -