No abstract

In this work, we report the stabilization of the reduced states of pyromellitic diimide by charge-balancing the imide radical anions with cationic pyridinium groups attached to the aromatic core. This structural modification is confirmed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. Characterization by (spectro)electrochemical experiments and computations reveal that the addition of cationic groups to an already electron-deficient ring system results in up to +0.57 V shifts in reduction potentials, largely as a consequence of charge screening and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital-lowering effects. This formal charge-balancing approach to stabilizing the reduced states of electron-deficient pyromellitic diimides will facilitate their incorporation into spin-based optoelectronic materials and devices.

The rational design of 3D structures (MOFs, COFs, etc.) is presently limited by our understanding of how the molecular constituents assemble. The common approach of using reversible interactions (covalent or noncovalent) becomes challenging, especially when the target is made from multivalent building blocks and/or under conditions of slow exchange, as kinetic traps and nonequilibrium product distributions are possible. Modeling the time course of the assembly process is difficult because the reaction networks include many possible pathways and intermediates. Here we show that rule-based kinetic simulations efficiently model dynamic reactions involving multivalent building blocks. We studied "strand escape from an [n]-rung ladder" as an example of a dynamic process characterized by a complex reaction network. The strand escape problem is important in that it predicts the time a dynamic system needs to backtrack from errors involving [n]-misconnections. We quantify the time needed for error correction as a function of the dissociation rate coefficient, strand valency, and seed species. We discuss the simulation results in relation to a simple probabilistic framework that captures the power law dependence on the strand's valency, and the inverse relationship to the rung-opening rate coefficient. The model also tests the synthetic utility of a one-rung (i.e., hairpin) seed species, which, at intermediate times, bifurcates to a long-lived, fully formed [n]-rung ladder and a pair of separated strands. Rule-based models thus give guidance to the planning of a dynamic covalent synthesis by predicting time to maximum yield of persistent intermediates for a particular set of rate coefficients and valency.

This is the author manuscript accepted for publication and has undergone full peer review but has not been through the copyediting, typesetting, pagination and proofreading process, which may lead to differences between this version and the Version of Record.

Three-rung molecular ladder 8 was prepared in one pot via tandem imine condensation and alkyne metathesis. Catalyst VI is demonstrated to successfully engender the metathesis of imine-bearing substrate 7, while catalyst III does not. The susceptibility of catalyst VI to deactivation by hydrolysis and ligand exchange is demonstrated. Assembly and disassembly of ladder 8 in one pot were demonstrated in the presence and absence of a Lewis acid catalyst.