Dominik Lungerich

Sensitivity training: The first generation of subporphyrinatoboron(III)-based molecular sensitizers were tested in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The most advanced prototype achieved a photon-to-current conversion efficiency value of 10.1 %. Such an astonishing figure suggests the potential for subporphyrinatoboron compounds in the field of DSSCs.

[Communication]
Graeme Copley, Daesub Hwang, Dongho Kim, Atsuhiro Osuka
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., August 02, 2016, DOI: 10.1002/anie.201604432. Read article

Old synthesis, new tricks: Isoporphyrins form in unprecedented amounts if the long-established Adler–Longo condensation for tetraarylporphyrin synthesis is performed in the presence of metal acetates as template agents. The isoporphyrins formed by this one-pot method are surprisingly stable and show the anticipated long-wavelength absorption typical for this class of porphyrinoids.

[Communication]
Peter Schweyen, Martin Hoffmann, Jens Krumsieck, Benedikt Wolfram, Xiulan Xie, Martin Bröring
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., July 15, 2016, DOI: 10.1002/anie.201604297. Read article

Triple two: A metal-free [2+2+2] cycloaddition of internal ynamides and nitriles was developed for the de novo synthesis of fully substituted pyridines. In contrast to metal catalysis, the versatile Brønsted acid HNTf₂ smoothly catalyzes the mild intermolecular cyclotrimerization of a range of ynamides and unactivated nitriles with complementary chemoselectivity.

[Communication]
Yong Wang, Li-Juan Song, Xinhao Zhang, Jianwei Sun
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., July 06, 2016, DOI: 10.1002/anie.201603889. Read article

Abstract

Nature Chemistry. doi:10.1038/nchem.2518

Authors: Gabriel E. Rudebusch, José L. Zafra, Kjell Jorner, Kotaro Fukuda, Jonathan L. Marshall, Iratxe Arrechea-Marcos, Guzmán L. Espejo, Rocío Ponce Ortiz, Carlos J. Gómez-García, Lev N. Zakharov, Masayoshi Nakano, Henrik Ottosson, Juan Casado & Michael M. Haley

Biradical polycyclic hydrocarbons are promising materials for organic spintronic and photovoltaic applications. The efficient and scalable synthesis of a diindenoanthracene derivative that exhibits moderate biradical character, yet is remarkably stable towards oxygen and heat, is now reported. A thermally accessible magnetic triplet state was studied through variable temperature techniques.

Stacking up: Two types of fluorescent solids were generated from a V-shaped bisanthracene derivative with three butyl groups. The highly emissive solid (Φ_F= >70 %) adopts a head-to-head arrangement with discrete stacks of the anthracene moieties. Furthermore, large enhancements of dye emissions (up to 45-fold) were achieved in the solid state by adding various fluorescent dyes to the V-shaped compound.

[Communication]
Shoya Sekiguchi, Kei Kondo, Yoshihisa Sei, Munetaka Akita, Michito Yoshizawa
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., April 28, 2016, DOI: 10.1002/anie.201602502. Read article

The core of the matter: Di-peri-dinaphthoporphyrins have been synthesized by PtCl₂-mediated cycloisomerization reaction of quinodimethane-type porphyrins. These porphyrins can be regarded as a key substructure of fused porphyrinoids, for which a 24π antiaromatic circuit was proven to be a dominant resonance contributor by ¹H NMR, UV/Vis absorption, cyclic voltammetry, NICS calculations, and AICD plot.

[Communication]
Masataka Umetani, Koji Naoda, Takayuki Tanaka, Seung-Kyu Lee, Juwon Oh, Dongho Kim, Atsuhiro Osuka
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., April 13, 2016, DOI: 10.1002/anie.201601303. Read article

Ten bonds in a single operation: The synthesis of an electron-poor nanographene with dicarboximide corners was accomplished by a palladium-catalyzed cascade process, forming ten C−C bonds in a single chemical operation. The planar geometry of this novel C₆₄ nanographene was revealed by single-crystal X-ray analysis.

[Communication]
Sabine Seifert, Kazutaka Shoyama, David Schmidt, Frank Würthner
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., April 05, 2016, DOI: 10.1002/anie.201601433. Read article

A flexible solar cell that can be excited by sunlight and raindrops is presented. The solar-to-electric conversion efficiency is created by complicated photoelectrochemical reactions, while electric signals, produced by dropping raindrops on rGO film, arise from π-electron|cation pseudocapacitance at the rGO/raindrop interface. This work could guide the design of all-weather solar cells.

[Communication]
Qunwei Tang, Xiaopeng Wang, Peizhi Yang, Benlin He
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., March 21, 2016, DOI: 10.1002/anie.201602114. Read article