Phosphorus Centers in π-conjugated Systems

Abstract: Single-molecular electronics and organic material electronics are expanding research fields that ultimately aim for a vast variety of different applications, ranging from organic light-emitting diodes, to novel ways to improve the performance and decrease the size of electronics components. To achieve these goals, research has to be focused both on the development of functional molecules, but also on device fabrication. The work of this thesis is focused on the development of synthetic routes towards novel molecules for potential organic electronics applications, together with an investigation of their optical and electronic properties.The first part of the thesis describes the synthesis of butadiyne-substituted and diacetylenic phosphaalkenes. Theoretical, spectroscopic and electrochemical techniques have been used to understand key steps during their synthesis, and to gain further information on the conjugative properties of their π-systems. A mechanism is proposed for the formation of the butadiyne-substituted and diacetylenic phosphaalkenes and it is shown that the phosphorus heteroatom is an intrinsic part of the π-conjugated system. The incorporation of the phosphorus heteroatom leads to decreased HOMO-LUMO gaps compared to all-carbon based reference compounds.In the second part of the thesis, acetylenic phosphaalkenes are utilized for the preparation of phosphaalkene-substituted phospholes. A first step towards the exploration of the difference in reactivity of the σ2, λ3 phosphaalkene-P and the σ3, λ3 phosphole-P is presented as the oxidation of the compounds by sulfur proceeds selectively at the σ3, λ3–P. Spectroscopic and electrochemical investigations show that the phosphaalkene is an integral part of the compounds’ π-systems, and induces a HOMO-LUMO gap decrease compared to reference compounds that lack the P=C substituent.The third part of this thesis presents an exploratory study concerning the suitability of metathesis reactions for the assembly of alkene-bridged phosphaalkenes.