Chun-Ting Poon

A Versatile Photochromic Dithienylethene-Containing β-Diketonate Ligand: Near-Infrared Photochromic Behavior and Photoswitchable Luminescence Properties upon Incorporation of a Boron(III) Center

A versatile dithienylethene-containing β-diketonate ligand and its boron(III) compounds have been successfully synthesized. Upon photocyclization, the ligand shows a new absorption band at 630 nm with good fatigue resistance and high thermal stability. Incorporation of the boron center has been demonstrated to shift the photochromic behavior to the NIR region.

A Phosphole Oxide-Containing Organogold(III) Complex for Solution-Processable Resistive Memory Devices with Ternary Memory Performances

A novel class of luminescent phosphole oxide-containing alkynylgold(III) complex has been synthesized, characterized, and applied as active material in the fabrication of solution-processable resistive memory devices. Incorporation of the phosphole oxide moiety in gold(III) system has been demonstrated to provide an extra charge-trapping site, giving rise to intriguing ternary memory performances with distinct and low switching threshold voltages, high OFF/ON1/ON2 current ratio of 1/10(3)/10(7), and long retention time for the three states. The present study offers vital insights for the future development of multilevel memory devices using small-molecule organometallic compounds.

Synthesis, photochromic, and computational studies of dithienylethene-containing β-diketonate derivatives and their near-infrared photochromic behavior upon coordination of a boron(III) center.

A series of dithienylethene-containing 1-thienyl-3-aryl-propane-1,3-diones (aryl = phenyl (Ph), thienyl (Th), and 4,5-bis(2,5-dimethylthiophen-3-yl)thiophen-2-yl (DTE-Th)) and the corresponding boron(III) diketonates, (O^O)BR(2) (R = F, C(6)F(5), and Ph), have been designed and synthesized. Their photophysical, electrochemical, and photochromic properties have been studied. Upon coordination of a boron(III) center, the closed forms of the dithienylethene-containing β-diketonates show near-infrared response and the photochromic behavior was also found to be affected by the aryl substituents at the 3-position of the β-diketonates. Moreover, computational studies have been performed that help to provide an understanding of the effect of substituents on the photophysical and photochromic properties.

Boron(III)-Containing Donor–Acceptor Compound with Goldlike Reflective Behavior for Organic Resistive Memory Devices

A small-molecule-based boron(III)-containing donor-acceptor compound has been designed and synthesized. Interesting goldlike reflective behavior was observed in the neat thin-film sample from simple spin-coating preparation, which can serve as a potential organic thin-film optical reflector. The small thickness in nanometer range and the relatively smooth surface morphology, together with simple preparation and easy solution processability, are attractive features for opening up new avenues for the fabrication of reflective coatings. Moreover, this donor-acceptor compound has been employed in the fabrication of organic resistive memory device, which exhibited good performance with low turn-on voltage, small operating bias, large ON/OFF ratio, and long retention time.

Photochromic dithienylethene-containing triarylborane derivatives: facile approach to modulate photochromic properties with multi-addressable functions

A series of dithienylethene-containing triarylboranes has been designed, synthesized, and characterized. The electrochemistry, photophysics, and photochromic behavior have also been studied. The photophysical and photochromic properties could be facilely tuned in this system by varying the thiophene spacers (thiophene, thienothiophene, and bithiophene) between the dithienylethene and the dimesitylboron (BMes2 ) or the position of the BMes2 substitution in the thiophene spacers. The absorption of closed form has been found to be more sensitive towards the structural modification upon incorporation of the BMes2 unit. Moreover, multi-addressable photochromic reactivity is obtained upon addition of Lewis base (F(-) ), which is due to the formation of boron-Lewis base adduct. The dependence of the photophysical and photochromic properties on the thiophene spacers and the position of the BMes2 substitution has been further supported by computational studies.

Photochromic Dithienylethene‐Containing Boron(III) Ketoiminates: Modulation of Photo‐Responsive Behavior through Variation of Intramolecular Motion

A series of dithienylethene-containing boron(III) ketoiminates, as well as their corresponding β-ketoimine ligands, have been synthesized and characterized. The photophysical, electrochemical, and photochromic properties of the compounds have been studied. Photocyclization has been found to be suppressed upon introduction of a phenyl substituent on the nitrogen atom of the β-ketoiminate core, whereas photochromism could be observed by replacement of the phenyl substituent with a bulky mesityl group. It is believed that the steric effect of the mesityl unit restricts molecular rotation, resulting in such a prominent difference in the photochromic properties.

Amphiphilic Carbazole-Containing Compounds with Lower Critical Solution Temperature Behavior for Supramolecular Self-Assembly and Solution-Processable Resistive Memories

The self-organization and resistive memory performances of a series of newly synthesized water-soluble amphiphilic carbazole derivatives have been explored. Temperature-dependent UV/Vis absorption spectroscopy has been conducted to study the isodesmic self-assembly mechanism of the carbazole-containing compounds. This class of compounds also exhibits interesting lower critical solution temperature properties, which are sensitive to concentration and ionic additives. One of the compounds has been solution-processed and utilized as an active material in the engineering of resistive memory devices, exhibiting a switching voltage of about 3.9 V, a constant ON/OFF current ratio of 106 , and a long retention time of 104  s. The present work demonstrates the versatile potential applications of water-soluble amphiphilic carbazole-containing compounds in supramolecular chemistry and resistive memory devices.