Small-molecule organic compounds have emerged as
attractive candidates for energy storage in lithium-ion batteries due to their
sustainability and modularity. To develop generalizable design principles for
organic electrode materials (OEMs), we investigated the correlation between electrochemical
performance and addition of functional groups that promote synergistic hydrogen
bonding and π-π stacking using a series of quinone-fused aza-phenazines (QAPs)
with different hydrogen bonding donor/acceptor arrays. The QAP containing the
most hydrogen bonding groups (<b>3</b>) exhibits the best performance with discharge
capacities of 145 mAh g<sup>-1</sup> at 2C with 82% capacity retention over
1000 cycles. The performance of <b>3</b> is attributed to the strategically
incorporated -OH and -NH<sub>2</sub> groups, which facilitate strong
intermolecular interactions and a tightly packed 2D structure. The intermolecular
interaction strength was evaluated using variable temperature 1D <sup>1</sup>H
NMR and 2D <sup>1</sup>H-<sup>1</sup>H NOESY, offering a new strategy to help understand
and predict the performance of OEMs with hydrogen bonding motifs.