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Supramolecular Block Copolymers by Seeded Living Supramolecular Polymerization of Perylene Bisimides
(2019)
The research on supramolecular polymerization has undergone a rapid development in the last two decades, particularly since supramolecular polymers exhibit a broad variety of functionalities and applications in organic electronics, biological science or as functional materials (Chapter 2.1). Although former studies have focused on investigation of the thermodynamics of supramolecular polymerization (Chapter 2.2), the academic interest in the recent years shifted towards gaining insight into kinetically controlled self-assembly and pathway complexity to generate novel out-of-equilibrium architectures with interesting nanostructures and features (Chapter 2.3). Along this path, the concepts of seeded and living supramolecular polymerization were recently developed to enable the formation of supramolecular polymers with controlled length and low polydispersity under precise kinetic control (Chapter 2.4). Besides that, novel strategies were developed to achieve supramolecular copolymerization resulting in complex multicomponent nanostructures with different structural motives. The classification of these supramolecular copolymers on the basis of literature examples and an overview of previously reported principles to create such supramolecular architectures are provided in Chapter 2.5.
The aim of the thesis was the non-covalent synthesis of highly desirable supramolecular block copolymers by the approach of living seeded supramolecular polymerization and to study the impact of the molecular shape of the monomeric building blocks on the supramolecular copolymerization. Based on the structure of the previously investigated PBI organogelator H-PBI a series of novel PBIs, bearing identical hydrogen-bonding amide side-groups in imide-position and various kind or number of substituents in bay-position, was synthesized and analyzed within this thesis. The new PBIs were successfully obtained in three steps starting from the respective bromo-substituted perylene-3,4:9,10-tetracarboxylic acid tetrabutylesters or from the N,N’-dicyclohexyl-1,7-dibromoperylene-3,4:9,10-tetracarboxylic acid bisimide. All target compounds were obtained in the final step by imidization reactions of the respective perylene tetracarboxylic acid bisanhydride precursors with N-(2-aminoethyl)-3,4,5-tris(dodecyloxy)-benzamide and were fully characterized by 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy as well as high resolution mass spectrometry.
The variation of bay-substituents strongly changes the optical properties of the monomeric PBIs which were investigated by UV/vis and fluorescence spectroscopy. The increase of the number of the methoxy-substituents provokes, for example, a red-shift of the absorption maxima concomitant with a decrease of extinction coefficients and leads to a drastic increase of the fluorescence quantum yields. Furthermore, the molecular geometry of the PBIs is also affected by variations of the bay-substituents. Thus, increasing the steric demand of the bay-substituents leads to an enlargement of the twist angles of the PBI cores as revealed by DFT calculations.
Especially the 1,7-dimethoxy bay-substituted MeO-PBI proved to be very well-suited for the studies envisioned within this thesis. The self-assembly of this PBI derivative was analyzed in detail by UV/vis, fluorescence and FT-IR spectroscopy as well as atomic force microscopy (Chapter 3). These studies revealed that MeO-PBI forms in a solvent mixture of methylcyclohexane and toluene (2:1, v/v) kinetically trapped off-pathway H-aggregated nanoparticles upon fast cooling of a monomeric solution from 90 to 20 °C. However, upon slow cooling of the monomer solution fluorescent J-type nanofibers are formed by π π interactions and intermolecular hydrogen-bonding.
The kinetically metastable off-pathway H-aggregates can be transformed into the thermodynamically more favored J-type aggregates by addition of seeds, which are produced by ultrasonication of the polymeric nanofibers. Interestingly, the living character of this seed-induced supramolecular polymerization process was proven by a newly designed multicycle polymerization experimental protocol. This living polymerization experiment clearly proves, that the polymerization can only occur at the “active” ends of the polymeric seed and that almost no recombination or chain termination processes are present. Hence, the approach of living supramolecular polymerization enables the formation of supramolecular polymers with controlled length and narrow polydispersity.
In Chapter 4 the copolymerization of MeO-PBI with the structurally similar 1,7-dichloro (Cl-PBI) and 1,7-dimethylthio (MeS-PBI) bay-substituted PBIs is studied in detail. Both PBIs form analogous to MeO-PBI kinetically trapped off-pathway aggregates, which can be converted into the thermodynamically stable supramolecular polymers by seed-induced living supramolecular polymerization under precise kinetic control. However, the stability of the kinetically trapped aggregates of Cl-PBI and MeS-PBI is distinctly reduced compared to that of MeO-PBI, because the π-π-interactions of the kinetically metastable aggregates are hampered through the increased twisting of the PBI-cores of the former PBIs. UV/vis studies revealed that the two-component seeded copolymerization of the kinetically trapped state of MeO-PBI with seeds of Cl-PBI leads to the formation of unprecedented supramolecular block copolymers with A-B-A pattern by a living supramolecular polymerization process at the termini of the seeds. Remarkably, the resulting A-B-A block pattern of the obtained copolymers was clearly confirmed by atomic force microscopy studies as the respective blocks formed by the individual monomeric units could be distinguished by the pitches of the helical nanofibers.
Moreover, detailed UV/vis and AFM studies have shown that by inverted two-component seed-induced polymerization, e.g., upon addition of seeds of MeO-PBI to the kinetically trapped aggregates of Cl-PBI, triblock supramolecular copolymers with B-A-B pattern can be generated. The switching of the block pattern could only be achieved because of the perfectly matching conditions for the copolymerization process and the tailored molecular geometry of the individual building blocks of both PBIs. These studies have demonstrated for the first time, that the block pattern of a supramolecular copolymer can be modulated by the experimental protocol through the approach of living supramolecular polymerization. Furthermore, by UV/vis analysis of the living copolymerization of MeO-PBI and MeS-PBI similar results were obtained showing also the formation of both A-B-A and B-A-B type supramolecular block copolymers. Although for these two PBIs the individual blocks could not be identified by AFM because the helical nanofibers of both PBIs exhibit identical helical pitches, these studies revealed for the first time that the approach of seeded living polymerization is not limited to a special pair of monomeric building blocks.
In the last part of the thesis (Chapter 5) a systematic study on the two-component living copolymerization of PBIs with various sterical demanding bay-substituents is provided. Thus, a series of PBIs containing identical hydrogen-bonding amide groups in imide position but variable number (1-MeO-PBI, MeO-PBI, 1,6,7-MeO-PBI, 1,6,7,12-MeO-PBI) or size (EtO-PBI, iPrO-PBI) of alkoxy bay-substituents was investigated. The molecular geometry of the monomeric building blocks has a strong impact on the thermodynamically and even more pronounced on the kinetically controlled aggregation in solvent mixtures of MCH and Tol. While the mono- and dialkoxy-substituted PBIs form kinetically metastable species, the self-assembly of the tri- and tetramethoxy-substituted PBIs (1,6,7-MeO-PBI and 1,6,7,12-MeO-PBI) is completely thermodynamically controlled. The two 1,7-alkoxy substituted PBIs (EtO-PBI, iPrO-PBI) form very similar to MeO-PBI kinetically off-pathway H-aggregates and thermodynamically more favored J-type aggregates. However, the stability of the kinetically metastable state is drastically lower and the conversion into the thermodynamically favored state much faster than for MeO-PBI. In contrast, the monomethoxy-substituted PBI derivative (1-MeO-PBI) forms a kinetically trapped species by intramolecular hydrogen-bonding of the monomers, which can be transformed into the thermodynamically favored nanofibers by seeded polymerization.
Importantly, the two-component seeded copolymerization of the kinetically trapped MeO PBI with seeds of other PBIs of the present series was studied by UV/vis and AFM revealing that the formation of supramolecular block copolymers is only possible for appropriate combinations of PBI building blocks. Thus, the seeded polymerization of the trapped state of the moderately core-twisted MeO-PBI with the, according to DFT-calculations, structurally similar PBIs (EtO-PBI and iPrO-PBI) leads to the formation of A-B-A block copolymers, like in the seeded copolymerization of MeO-PBItrapped with seeds of Cl-PBI and MeS-PBI already described in Chapter 4. However, by addition of seeds of the almost planar PBIs (H-PBI and 1-MeO-PBI) or seeds of the strongly core-twisted PBIs (1,6,7-MeO-PBI and 1,6,7,12-MeO-PBI) to the kinetically trapped state of MeO-PBI no block copolymers can be obtained. The mismatching geometry of these molecular building blocks strongly hampers both the intermolecular hydrogen-bonding and the π-π-interactions between the two different PBIs and consequently prevents the copolymerization process.
Furthermore, the studies of the two-component seeded copolymerization of the kinetically trapped species of 1-MeO-PBI with seeds of the other PBIs also corroborated that a precise shape complementarity is crucial to generate supramolecular block copolymers. Thus, by addition of seeds of H-PBI to the kinetically trapped monomers of 1-MeO-PBI supramolecular block copolymers were generated. Both PBIs exhibit an almost planar PBI core according to DFT-calculations leading to strong non-covalent interactions between these PBIs. This perfectly matching geometry of both PBIs also enables the inverted seeded copolymerization of the kinetically trapped monomers of H-PBI with 1-MeO-PBIseed concomitant with a switching of the block pattern of the supramolecular copolymer from A-B-A to B-A-B type. In contrast, the seeding with the moderately twisted (MeO-PBI, EtO-PBI and iPrO-PBI) and the strongly twisted PBIs (1,6,7-MeO-PBI and 1,6,7,12 MeO-PBI) has no effect on the kinetically trapped state of 1-MeO-PBI, because the copolymerization of these PBIs is prevented by the mismatching geometry of the molecular building blocks.
In conclusion, the supramolecular polymerization and two-component seeded copolymerization of a series of PBI monomers was investigated within this thesis. The studies revealed that the thermodynamically and kinetically controlled self-assembly can be strongly modified by subtle changes of the monomeric building blocks. Moreover, the results have shown that living supramolecular polymerization is an exceedingly powerful method to generate unprecedented supramolecular polymeric nanostructures with controlled block pattern and length distribution. The formation of supramolecular block copolymers can only be achieved under precise kinetic control of the polymerization process and is strongly governed by the shape complementarity already imparted in the individual components. Thus, these insightful studies might enable a more rational design of monomeric building blocks for the non-covalent synthesis of highly complex supramolecular architectures with interesting properties for possible future applications, e.g., as novel functional materials.
The aim of the first part of this thesis was to investigate (R,R)-PBI as a model system for polymorphism at its origin by a supramolecular approach. The pathway complexity of (R,R)-PBI was fine-tuned by experimental parameters such as solvent, temperature and concentration to make several supramolecular polymorphs accessible. Mechanistic and quantum chemical studies on the kinetics and thermodynamics of the supramolecular polymerization of (R,R)-PBI were conducted to shed light on the initial stages of polymorphism. The second part of this work deals with mechanistic investigations on the supramolecular polymerization of the racemic mixture of (R,R)- and (S,S)-PBI with regard to homochiral and heterochiral aggregation leading to conglomerates and a racemic supramolecular polymer, respectively.
The minimum energy path for the reaction O(\(^3\)P\(_g\)) + C\(_2\)H\(_4\)(\(^1\)A\(_g\)) has been calculated by optimizing all relevant geometrical parameters along the approach of oxygen to ethene. A barrier of 4.7 kcal/mol in the \(^3\)A"( ... 9a'\(^2\)- 10a'3a") potential energy surface and an energy difference of 14.4 kcal/mol between the product and the fragments is found at the multireference-configuration interaction level. The corresponding values at the lower-level treatment CASSCF are 9 kcal/mol for the barrier and 9 kcal/mol for the depth of the potential; this shows the importance of inclusion of electron correlation. The barrier for CH\(_2\) rotation for the lowestenergy structure (asymmetric OC\(_2\)H\(_4\)) is around 5 kcal/mol. The energy gap to the first excited state \(^3\)A'( ... 9a'l0a'3a'12) is found tobe 3.6 kcal/mol in MRD-CI calculations at the ground-state minimum. Comparison with \(^3\)CH\(_2\) + C\(_2\)H\(_4\) shows that in this system the lowest-energy surface is \(^3\)A', i.e., the state which is the excited state in 0 + C\(_2\)H\(_4\). This difference in energy ordering of \(^3\)A' and \(^3\)A" states results from the fact that the p\(_x\), p\(_y\), p\(_z\) degeneracy of oxygen orbitals is lifted in \(^3\)CH\(_2\)leading to b\(_1\), b\(_2\). and a\(_1\) MOs whereby the lowest b\(_2\) (a") remains doubly occupied; as a consequence, the reaction pattem between the oxygen and \(^3\)CH\(_2\) approach is different, which is also quite apparent in the calculated charge transfer.
Analog zu den auf hochgeordneten Farbstoffarchitekturen in den biologischen Photosyntheseapparaten basierenden Energiekonversionssystemen sollte die exakte Einstellung zwischenmolekularer Wechselwirkungen auch in künstlichen Halbleitern eine entscheidende Rolle für die Weiterentwicklung organischer Elektronikmaterialien spielen. Für eine derartige, präzise Steuerung der nanoskaligen Anordnung in organischen Materialien erscheinen Merocyaninfarbstoffe wegen ihrer hochgerichteten, dipolaren Aggregation äußerst aussichtsreich. In diesem Zusammenhang war das Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit die Ausnutzung funktionaler, stark selbstorganisierender Merocyanine, um eine gezielte Beeinflussung der Morphologie in der aktiven Schicht von BHJ-Solarzellen zu erreichen. Hierzu sollte zunächst eine umfangreiche Serie komplexer Merocyanine synthetisiert und vollständig charakterisiert werden. Im Folgenden wurde angestrebt, die optischen und elektrochemischen Eigenschaften der molekular gelösten Farbstoffe zu bestimmen und für ausgewählte, geeignete Strukturen das Selbstorganisationsverhalten im Detail zu studieren. Zuletzt sollte durch eine sorgfältige Optimierung der Prozessierungsbedingungen ein Transfer der in Lösung gefundenen, supramolekularen Strukturen in den Blend lösungsprozessierter BHJ-Solarzellen erreicht werden. Die organischen Elektronikbauteile wurden dabei im Arbeitskreis von Prof. Dr. Klaus Meerholz (Universität Köln) gefertigt und charakterisiert.
Zusammenfassend zeichnet die vorliegende Arbeit ein umfassendes Bild von der Synthese funktionaler Merocyanine, dem Studium ihrer molekularen und Selbstorganisationseigenschaften sowie ihrer Anwendung als p-Halbleitermaterialien in organischen Solarzellen. Der komplexe Molekülaufbau der dargestellten Farbstoffe führte dabei zur Ausbildung verschiedener Farbstofforganisate, deren Struktur sowohl in Lösung als auch teilweise im Festkörper aufgeklärt werden konnte. Die erfolgreiche Implementierung von H-aggregierten Spezies der Verbindung 67b in die aktive Schicht organischer BHJ-Solarzellen resultierte in der Bildung effizienter Perkolationspfade für Exzitonen und freie Ladungsträger, wodurch diese Bauteile merklich höhere Stromdichten generieren konnten und gegenüber Zellen ohne H-Spezies über 20 % gesteigerte Effizienz aufwiesen. Diese Befunde verifizieren die postulierte Hypothese, dass eine gezielte Einstellung der zwischenmolekularen Wechselwirkungen bei organischen Halbleitern zu einer Optimierung der Funktionalität organischer Elektronikmaterialien beitragen kann.