A Dual Threat: Redox-Activity and Electronic Structures of Well-Defined Donor-Acceptor Fulleretic Covalent-Organic Materials

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2020 Apr 6;59(15):6000-6006. doi: 10.1002/anie.201914233. Epub 2020 Feb 12.

Abstract

The effect of donor (D)-acceptor (A) alignment on the materials electronic structure was probed for the first time using novel purely organic porous crystalline materials with covalently bound two- and three-dimensional acceptors. The first studies towards estimation of charge transfer rates as a function of acceptor stacking are in line with the experimentally observed drastic, eight-fold conductivity enhancement. The first evaluation of redox behavior of buckyball- or tetracyanoquinodimethane-integrated crystalline was conducted. In parallel with tailoring the D-A alignment responsible for "static" changes in materials properties, an external stimulus was applied for "dynamic" control of the electronic profiles. Overall, the presented D-A strategic design, with stimuli-controlled electronic behavior, redox activity, and modularity could be used as a blueprint for the development of electroactive and conductive multidimensional and multifunctional crystalline porous materials.

Keywords: covalent-organic frameworks; donor-acceptor interactions; electronic structure; fulleretic materials; redox-activity.