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The effect of substituting o-carborane into the most sterically hindered positions of phenanthrene and benzo(k)tetraphene is reported. Synthesised via a Bull-Hutchings-Quayle benzannulation, the crystal structures of these non-linear acenes exhibited the highest aromatic deformation parameters observed for any reported carborane compound to date, and among the largest carboranyl C-C bond length of all organo-substituted o-carboranes. Photoluminescence studies of these compounds demonstrated efficient intramolecular charge-transfer, leading to aggregation induced emission properties. Additionally, an unusual low-energy excimer was observed for the phenanthryl compound. These are two new members of the family of carborane-functionalised non-linear acenes, notable for their peculiar structures and multi-luminescent properties., (© 2020 The Authors. Published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

The synthesis of a highly twisted chrysene derivative incorporating two electron deficient o-carboranyl groups is reported. The molecule exhibits a complex, excitation-dependent photoluminescence, including aggregation-induced emission (AIE) with good quantum efficiency and an exceptionally long singlet excited state lifetime. Through a combination of detailed optical studies and theoretical calculations, the excited state species are identified, including an unusual excimer induced by the presence of o-carborane. This is the first time that o-carborane has been shown to induce excimer formation ab initio, as well as the first observation of excimer emission by a chrysene-based small molecule in solution. Bis-o-carboranyl chrysene is thus an initial member of a new family of o-carboranyl phenacenes exhibiting a novel architecture for highly-efficient multi-luminescent fluorophores., (© 2018 The Authors. Published by Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.)

Metal complexes of 2,5-dicarboxamidopyrroles and 2,5-dicarbothioamidopyrroles have been structurally characterised for the first time, complementing the significant amount of work that has been reported for the analogous pyridine ligands. N,N'-Bis(3,5-dinitrophenyl)-3,4-diphenyl-1H-pyrrole-2,5-dicarboxamide forms octahedral bis(tridentate) complexes with cobalt(III) and nickel(II), where the ligands are bound to the metal centres through deprotonated pyrrole and amide N atoms. N,N'-Dibutyl-3,4-diphenyl-1H-pyrrole-2,5-dicarboxthioamide and N,N'-diphenyl-3,4-diphenyl-1H-pyrrole-2,5-dicarboxthioamide also form bis(tridentate) cobalt complexes but are only deprotonated at the pyrrole N atom, the remainder of the coordination sphere comprising the thioamide S atoms. The dibutyl derivative was isolated as a Co(II) complex, whereas the diphenyl system deposited a Co(III) complex. In contrast, N,N'-dibutyl-3,4-dichloro-1H-pyrrole-2,5-dicarboxamide was found to act as a bidentate ligand, in an octahedral cobalt(II) complex comprising of two bidentate pyrrole ligands, and two aqua ligands. Synthesis of N,N-bis(pyridin-2-ylmethyl)-3,4-diphenyl-1H-pyrrole-2,5-carboxamide gave a pyrrole ligand with increased denticity. Reaction with cobalt(II) chloride resulted in the isolation of a dinuclear helicate complex. The ligand was found to have undergone addition of a methoxy group to one of the linking methylene carbons, presumably as a result of the oxidative addition of solvent methanol.

A new calix[4]pyrrole has been synthesised that contains a 3,4,5-trisbromopyrrole appended to a meso-position which shows enhanced anion affinity as compared to the parent meso-octamethylcalix[4]pyrrole macrocycle.