Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2016, 12, 2055–2064.
access thienyl-bridged oligophenothiazines in a one-pot fashion 8H), 1.39–1.51 (m, 4H), 1.78 (quint, 3J = 7.5 Hz, 4H), 3.92 (t,
starting from 3-bromo(oligo)phenothiazines. Most remarkably, 3J = 7.0 Hz, 4H), 6.90–6.97 (m, 2H), 6.97–7.03 (m, 4H), 7.14
the oxidative conditions of the central Glaser step employing air (dd, 3J = 7.7 Hz, 4J = 1.5 Hz, 2H), 7.16–7.23 (m, 2H), 7.29 (s,
as oxidant does not interfere with the oxidation sensitive 2H), 7.41 (d, 4J = 2.1 Hz, 2H), 7.44 (dd, 3J = 8.4 Hz, 4J = 2.2
(oligo)phenothiazinyl moieties. The electronic properties of the Hz, 2H); 13C NMR (75 MHz, acetone-d6) δ 14.3 (2CH3), 23.3
obtained three thienyl-bridged systems were intensively studied (2CH2), 27.1 (2CH2), 27.5 (2CH2), 32.2 (2CH2), 47.9 (2CH2),
by UV–vis and fluorescence spectroscopy as well as by cyclic 116.7 (2CH), 116.8 (2CH), 123.4 (2CH), 124.5 (2CH), 124.5
voltammetry. With increasing numbers of phenothiazinyl elec- (2CH), 124.8 (2Cquat), 125.4 (2CH), 126.1 (2Cquat), 128.1
trophore units the oxidation proceeds with lower oxidation (2CH), 128.4 (2CH), 129.6 (2Cquat), 142.5 (2Cquat), 145.5
potentials and for the 2,5-bis(terphenothiazinyl)thiophene even (2Cquat), 145.8 (2Cquat); MS (MALDI) m/z: 646.3 ([M]+);
a consistently reversible oxidation area can be found. As UV–vis (CH2Cl2), λmax [nm] (ε): 246 (39600), 261 (39100),
already shown for oligophenothiazines and typical for many 318 (27000), 395 (33100); IR (KBr) [cm−1]: 3057 (w), 2951
3-(hetero)arylphenothiazines the Stokes shifts are large and sub- (w), 2926 (w), 2851 (w), 1917 (w), 1597 (w), 1576 (w), 1539
stantial fluorescence quantum yields can be measured. Compu- (w), 1489 (w), 1458 (s), 1398 (w), 1362 (w), 1331 (m), 1285
tational chemistry supports lowest-energy conformers with (w), 1248 (m), 1238 (m), 1225 (w), 1192 (w), 1161 (w), 1134
sigmoidal and helical structure, similar to oligophenothiazines. (w), 1103 (w), 1038 (w), 1022 (w), 968 (w), 926 (w), 908 (w),
Furthermore, TD-DFT and even semiempirical ZINDO calcula- 874 (w), 793 (s), 745 (s), 704 (w), 681 (w), 669 (w), 646 (w),
tions on geometry-optimized simplified structures of the title 625 (w); anal. calcd for C40H42N2S3 (647.0): C, 74.26; H, 6.54;
compounds nicely reproduce the trends of longest wavelength N, 4.33; found: C, 74.17; H, 6.79; N, 4.05.
absorption bands and allow the assignment of these transitions
to be largely charge-transfer from the adjacent phenothiazinyl 3b: According to the GP by reaction of 7-bromo-10,10'-dihexyl-
moieties to the central thienyl unit. This represents in principle 10H,10'H-3,3'-biphenothiazine (1b, 1.29 g, 2.00 mmol) after
a donor–acceptor–donor topology, suitable for further develop- chromatography on silica gel (hexane/THF 20:1) gave 435 mg
ment toward molecular electronics. Studies employing the (36%) of compound 3b as a yellow greenish resin. 1H NMR
presented synthetic methodology and the concept of bridging (600 MHz, CDCl3) δ 0.65–0.82 (m, 12H), 1.10–1.23 (m, 16H),
oligophenothiazines with conjugating bridges of variable elec- 1.26–1.36 (m, 8H), 1.62–1.76 (m, 8H), 3.62–3.79 (m, 8H),
tronic nature are currently underway.
6.64–6.84 (m, 10H), 6.93–7.09 (m, 6H), 7.09–7.26 (m, 12H);
13C NMR (151 MHz, CDCl3) δ 14.1 (CH3), 22.7 (CH2), 26.7
(CH2), 26.7 (CH2), 26.8 (CH2), 26.9 (CH2), 31.5 (CH2), 47.5
Experimental
3a (general procedure GP): 3-Bromo-10-hexyl-10H-phenothi- (CH2), 47.6 (CH2), 115.3 (CH), 115.4 (CH), 115.5 (CH), 115.5
azine (1a) (725 mg, 2.00 mmol) and dry THF (10.0 mL) were (CH), 122.4 (CH), 123.1 (CH), 124.2 (CH), 124.4 (Cquat), 124.4
placed in a microwave vessel with septum (80 mL) and the mix- (Cquat), 124.6 (CH), 124.8 (Cquat), 125.1 (CH), 125.1 (CH),
ture was deaerated by a constant stream of nitrogen through a 125.2 (CH), 125.3 (CH), 127.3 (CH), 127.5 (CH), 128.9 (Cquat),
syringe for 10 min. Then PdCl2(PPh3)2 (56.0 mg, 0.08 mmol), 134.2 (Cquat), 134.4 (Cquat), 141.9 (Cquat), 143.7 (Cquat), 144.2
CuI (15.0 mg, 0.08 mmol), PPh3 (21 mg, 0.08 mmol), (tri- (Cquat), 144.3 (Cquat),145.1 (Cquat); MS (MALDI) m/z: 1208.5
methylsilyl)acetylene (0.56 mL, 2.00 mmol), and piperidine ([M]+); UV–vis (CH2Cl2), λmax [nm] (ε): 266 (52100), 284
(5.00 mL, 50.4 mmol) were added. The closed vessel under (45900), 319 (32500), 404 (27700); IR (KBr) [cm−1]: 2951
nitrogen was heated at 55 °C (oil bath) for 16 h. Next, (w), 2922 (w), 2853 (w), 1456 (s), 1416 (w), 1375 (w), 1364
TBAF·3H2O (631 mg, 2.00 mmol) was added and the vessel (w), 1331 (m), 1292 (w), 1238 (m), 1192 (w), 1138 (w), 1105
open to ambient atmosphere was then stirred at room temp for (w), 1063 (w), 1040 (w), 872 (m), 797 (s), 745 (s), 727 (w), 706
16 h. Then, sodium sulfide nonahydrate (960 mg, 4.00 mmol) (w), 611 (w); anal. calcd for C76H80N4S5·H2O·2C4H8O (1209.8
and potassium hydroxide (224 mg, 4.00 mmol) were added and + 18.0 + 144.2): C, 73.53; H, 7.20; N, 4.08; found: C, 73.39; H,
the reaction mixture in the closed vessel was heated at 120 °C in 7.36; N, 4.29; HPLC (n-hexane) tR [min] (%) = 4.49 (99).
the microwave cavity for 30 min. After cooling to room temper-
ature the solvents were removed in vacuo and the residue was 3c: According to the GP by reaction of 7-bromo-10,10’,10’’-
filtered with THF through a short plug of Celite® and silica gel. trihexyl-10H,10’H,10’’H-[3,3’,7’,3’’]terphenothiazin (1c,
The solvents were removed in vacuo and the residue was puri- 1.85 g, 2.00 mmol) after chromatography on silica gel (hexane/
fied by chromatography on silica gel (hexane/dichlormethane THF 7:1 to 3:1) gave 955 mg (54%) of compound 3c as a
10:1) giving 218 mg (34%) of compound 3a as a yellow yellow greenish resin. 1H NMR (600 MHz, CDCl3) δ 0.75–0.88
greenish resin. Rf 0.53 (hexane/acetone 10:1); 1H NMR (300 (m, 18H), 1.08–1.33 (m, 24H), 1.31–1.40 (m, 12H), 1.66–1.81
MHz, acetone-d6) δ 0.84 (t, 3J = 7.1 Hz, 6 H), 1.21–1.33 (m, (m, 12H), 3.60–3.89 (m, 12H), 6.68–6.88 (m, 14H), 7.00–7.11
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