Effects of ortho-phenyl substitution on molecular arrangements of octadehydrodibenzo[12]annulene

Abstract

To modulate assembly manners of octadehydrodibenzo[12]annulene ([12]DBA) core in solid state, we first synthesized ortho-phenyl-substituted derivative 2 and investigated the effects of the substituents on the molecular stacking manner of the [12]DBA core. [12]DBA 2 yielded four types of crystals, which differ from that of the parent compound: Namely, the guest-free crystal possessing an offset stacking manner (I-GF), the solvate with a edge-to-face arrangement (II), the solvates with zigzag π-stacked arrangements (III and III'), and the solvate with 1D π-stacked columnar arrangements (IV). In the crystals, the phenyl groups contribute to limiting the stacking geometry of the [12]DBA cores and to forming void spaces accommodating various guest species, allowing versatile molecular assembly manners hitherto known for [12]DBA derivatives. We revealed that the crystals showed structure dependent fluorescence and charge carrier behaviors. © 2013 The Chemical Society of Japan.