Tomohiro Higashino

tert-Butoxide-Mediated Arylation of Benzene with Aryl Halides in the Presence of a Catalytic 1,10-Phenanthroline Derivative

Sodium tert-butoxide mediates the coupling of aryl halides with benzene derivatives without the aid of transition metal catalysts but with a catalytic 1,10-phenanthroline derivative.

Tropolone as a High-Performance Robust Anchoring Group for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

A tropolone group has been employed for the first time as an anchoring group for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The DSSC based on a porphyrin, YD2-o-C8T, with a tropolone moiety exhibited a power-conversion efficiency of 7.7 %, which is only slightly lower than that observed for a reference porphyrin, YD2-o-C8, with a conventional carboxylic group. More importantly, YD2-o-C8T was found to be superior to YD2-o-C8 with respect to DSSC durability and binding ability to TiO2 . These results unambiguously demonstrate that tropolone is a highly promising dye-anchoring group for DSSCs in terms of device durability as well as photovoltaic performance.

Remarkable Dependence of the Final Charge Separation Efficiency on the Donor–Acceptor Interaction in Photoinduced Electron Transfer

The unprecedented dependence of final charge separation efficiency as a function of donor-acceptor interaction in covalently-linked molecules with a rectilinear rigid oligo-p-xylene bridge has been observed. Optimization of the donor-acceptor electronic coupling remarkably inhibits the undesirable rapid decay of the singlet charge-separated state to the ground state, yielding the final long-lived, triplet charge-separated state with circa 100% efficiency. This finding is extremely useful for the rational design of artificial photosynthesis and organic photovoltaic cells toward efficient solar energy conversion.

A Möbius Antiaromatic Complex as a Kinetically Controlled Product in Phosphorus Insertion to a [32]Heptaphyrin

Singly twisted Möbius antiaromatic [34]heptaphyrin A and doubly twisted Hückel aromatic [34]heptaphyrin B were formed by a phosphorus insertion reaction. A rearranges thermally to give the more stable B with P=O migration from NNN to NNC, and thus A is a rare case of a kinetically controlled Möbius antiaromatic molecule.

Effects of Bulky Substituents of Push-Pull Porphyrins on Photovoltaic Properties of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells.

To evaluate the effects of substituent bulkiness around a porphyrin core on the photovoltaic properties of porphyrin-sensitized solar cells, long alkoxy groups were introduced at the meso-phenyl group (ZnPBAT-o-C8) and the anchoring group (ZnPBAT-o-C8Cn, n = 4, 8) of an asymmetrically substituted push-pull porphyrin with double electron-donating diarylamino groups and a single electron-withdrawing carboxyphenylethynyl anchoring group. The spectroscopic and electrochemical properties of ZnPBAT-o-C8 and ZnPBAT-o-C8Cn were found to be superior to those of a push-pull porphyrin reference (YD2-o-C8), demonstrating their excellent light-harvesting and redox properties for dye-sensitized solar cells. A power conversion efficiency (η) of the ZnPBAT-o-C8-sensitized solar cell (η = 9.1%) is higher than that of the YD2-o-C8-sensitized solar cell (η = 8.6%) using iodine-based electrolyte due to the enhanced light-harvesting ability of ZnPBAT-o-C8. In contrast, the solar cells based on ZnPBAT-o-C8Cn, possessing the additional alkoxy chains in the anchoring group, revealed the lower η values of 7.3% (n = 4) and 7.0% (n = 8). Although ZnPBAT-o-C8Cn exhibited higher resistance at the TiO2-dye-electrolyte interface by virtue of the extra alkoxy chains, the reduced amount of the porphyrins on TiO2 by excessive addition of coadsorbent chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA) for mitigating the aggregation on TiO2 resulted in the low η values. Meanwhile, the ZnPBAT-o-C8-sensitized solar cell showed the lower η value of 8.1% than the YD2-o-C8-sensitized solar cell (η = 9.8%) using cobalt-based electrolyte. The smaller η value of the ZnPBAT-o-C8-sensitized solar cell may be attributed to the insufficient blocking effect of the bulky substituents of ZnPBAT-o-C8 under the cobalt-based electrolyte conditions. Overall, the alkoxy chain length and substitution position around the porphyrin core are important factors to affect the cell performance.

Singly N-fused Möbius aromatic [28]hexaphyrins(1.1.1.1.1.1).

A singly N-fused [28]hexaphyrin was isolated and metalated with Pd(OAc)2 to give a conformationally twisted Pd(II) complex that displays distinct Möbius aromatic properties such as a strong ring current and an absorption spectrum characteristic of an aromatic porphyrinoid.

Diprotonated [28]hexaphyrins(1.1.1.1.1.1): triangular antiaromatic macrocycles.

Protonation of meso-aryl [28]hexaphyrins(1.1.1.1.1.1) triggered conformational changes. Whereas protonation with trifluoroacetic acid led to the formation of monoprotonated Möbius aromatic species, protonation with methanesulfonic acid led to the formation of diprotonated triangular antiaromatic species. A peripherally hexaphenylated [28]hexaphyrin was rationally designed and prepared to undergo diprotonation to favorably afford a triangular-shaped antiaromatic species.

Synthesis and Isolation of cis-2 Regiospecific Ethylene-Tethered Indene Dimer–[70]Fullerene Adduct for Polymer Solar Cell Applications

Although the utilization of [70]fullerene bis-adducts can enhance the power conversion efficiencies of polymer solar cells (PSCs) owing to their strong absorption intensities and high-lying lowest unoccupied molecular orbital energy levels, this synthetic strategy typically yields a mixture of regioisomers that would mask the intrinsic device performances depending on the substituent pattern on the [70]fullerene derivatives. In this study, a single cis-2 regioisomer of C70 bis-adduct (cis-2-[70]BIEC) has been prepared for the first time by the same strategy that had been applied to [60]fullerene to obtain a regioisomerically pure C60 bis-adduct (cis-2-[60]BIEC). Diels-Alder reaction was conducted between a rationally designed ethylene-tethered indene dimer and [70]fullerene, followed by isolation using high-performance liquid chromatography suitable for the separation of fullerene derivatives. A series of structural analysis techniques including NMR spectroscopies and X-ray crystallography were used to identify the absolute configuration of the bis-adduct. A systematic study on the optical, electrochemical, and photovoltaic properties of cis-2-[70]BIEC as well as the corresponding regioisomer mixture (bis-[70]BIEC) and the monoadduct (α-mono-[70]BIEC) has been performed to examine the effect of the pure cis-2 regioisomer. More importantly, their properties are compared with those of cis-2-[60]BIEC to address the effect of fullerene cage structures, that is, C60 versus C70. The PSC based on cis-2-[70]BIEC and poly(3-hexylthiophene) showed a remarkable power conversion efficiency of 4.2%, which is higher than those with bis-[70]BIEC (2.2%), α-mono-[70]BIEC (2.2%), cis-2-[60]BIEC (2.8%), and even a prevalent high-performance C70 monoadduct ([70]PCBM, 3.8%). Our synthetic strategy will pave the way for further development on the rational design and isolation of single fullerene bis-adduct regioisomers exhibiting high device performances.

Covalently linked 5,15-diazaporphyrin dimers: promising scaffolds for a highly conjugated azaporphyrin π system.

The first examples of β-β directly linked, acetylene-bridged, and butadiyne-bridged 5,15-diazaporphyrin dimers have been prepared by palladium-catalyzed coupling reactions of nickel(II) and copper(II) complexes of 3-bromo-10,20-dimesityl-5,15-diazaporphyrin (mesityl=2,4,6-trimethylphenyl). The effects of the linking modes and meso-nitrogen atoms on the structural, optical, electrochemical, and magnetic properties of the distributed π systems were investigated by using X-ray crystallography, UV/Vis absorption spectroscopy, DFT calculations, cyclic voltammetry, and ESR spectroscopy. Both the electronic and steric effects of the meso-nitrogen atoms play an important role in the highly coplanar geometry of the directly linked dimers. The direct β-β linkage produces enhanced π conjugation and electron-spin coupling between the two diazaporphyrin units.

Peripheral Arylation of Subporphyrazines

Peripherally hexaarylated subporphyrazines (SubPzs) have been prepared through a Pd-catalyzed, CuTC-mediated coupling of a hexaethylsulfanylated subporphyrazine with arylboronic acids. The introduced aryl substituents strongly influence the electronic properties of the subporphyrazine through effective conjugative interaction. Aryl rings endowed with π-electron-donating groups at the para positions produce a remarkable perturbation of the electron density of the SubPz macrocycle. This is reflected through significant redshifts of the SubPz CT and Q-bands, together with increase of the molar absorptivity of the former, with respect to those exhibited by the hexaphenyl-SubPz 2 a. Moreover, the trend in the first SubPz reduction potentials correlates with the Hammett constants (σp ) corresponding to the para substituents of the aryl. The domed, extended SubPz π-system self-assembles in the solid state to form a dimeric capsule that houses a solvent molecule.