Dibenzophosphapentaphenes: Exploiting P chemistry for gap fine-tuning and coordination-driven assembly of planar polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

Article abstract of DOI:10.1021/ja300171y

A synthetic route to planar P-modified polycylic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) is described. The presence of a reactive σ³, λ³-P moiety within the sp²-carbon scaffold allows the preparation of a new family of PAHs displaying tunable optical and redox properties. Their frontier molecular orbitals (MOs) are derived from the corresponding phosphole MOs and show extended conjugation with the entire π framework. The coordination ability of the P center allows the coordination-driven assembly of two molecular PAHs onto a Au^I ion.