Study on effect of supercritical CO2 on structural ordering and charge transporting property in thiophene-based block copolymer

We reported that supercritical (sc) annealing of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT), and its block copolymers with poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and polystyrene (PSt) brought about improvements in the crystal structure and hole mobility, determined by the space charge limited current (SCLC) measurement. P3HT-b-PEO showed the largest increase in mobility. From XRD profile, it was found that the treatment with scCO2 increased the crystallite size and crystallinity. UV-vis spectra showed that the effective conjugation length in the scCO2 treated films was increased compared to the as-spun, suggesting that CO2 molecules are incorporated into domains of the second block domains and P3HT amorphous region, and assist to alter the characteristics of the crystalline region. Then, it was considered that the change in the crystalline structure and the improvement of P3HT chains packing led to the enhanced mobility. Since PEO is known to have a higher affinity for CO2, the increase of mobility was specifically intensive.

Doubly linked chiral phenanthrene oligomers for homogeneously π-extended helicenes with large effective conjugation length

Helically twisted conductive nanocarbon materials are applicable to optoelectronic and electromagnetic molecular devices working on the nanometer scale. Herein, we report the synthesis of per-peri-perbenzo[5]- and [9]helicenes in addition to previously reported π-extended [7]helicene. The homogeneously π-extended helicenes can be regarded as helically fused oligo-phenanthrenes. The HOMO−LUMO gap decreased significantly from 2.14 to 1.15 eV with increasing helical length, suggesting the large effective conjugation length (ECL) of the π-extended helical framework. The large ECL of π-extended helicenes is attributed to the large orbital interactions between the phenanthrene subunits at the 9- and 10-positions, which form a polyene-like electronic structure. Based on the experimental results and DFT calculations, the ultrafast decay dynamics on the sub-picosecond timescale were attributed to the low-lying conical intersection.

Reliably Estimating the Length of the Effectively Conjugated Segment in Ladder Poly(para-phenylene)s

In 1995 we extrapolated the so-called “effective conjugation length” in (para-phenylene) ladder polymers by relating the optical absorption energy to the reciprocal chain length of ladder-type oligo-(para-phenylene)s, but only based on three short-chain oligomers (a trimer, a pentamer, and a heptamer). The resulting value of 11–12 benzene rings was distinctly lower than the numbers reported for corresponding single-stranded, soluble poly(para-phenylene)s. Here, we report a series of elongated (para-phenylene)-type ladder oligomers that were isolated via repeated recycling size exclusion chromatography steps from an oligomer mixture. Now we are able to extrapolate the length of the “effectively conjugated segment” with much more precision to be 19 ± 2 benzene rings.

Nonlinear correlations between ν1 Raman band and global scalar properties for different length carotenoids

The Raman ν1 band corresponding to the polarization of various length carotenoid (Car) and polyene molecules was theoretically analysed using the density functional theory (DFT) approach. The polarization and other properties of Car and polyene monomers were estimated by using global scalar properties. The results demonstrate a linear dependence between the frequency of the so-called ν1 Raman band corresponding to the C=C stretching modes, and the global hardness (and global softness) for all molecules of different conjugation lengths. Linear correlations between all global scalar properties and the conjugation length were for polyene structures only. From these calculations an additional relationship was also identified: upon s-cis-isomerisation the effective conjugation length and global softness increased for polyenes, while the effective conjugation length and global softness decreased for carotenoids containing β-rings at their ends. According to the electrophilicity index study, charge transfer processes (CT) should be favourable in longer carotenoid and polyene structures. A linear dependence of electronegativity was found for polyene and particular Cars subgroups. The electrophilicity index was very sensitive to special groups bonded to the polyene chain of Cars. Finally, the conjugation length of the Cars did not have a linear dependence on the electronegativity, chemical potential and electrophilicity index, but almost a linear dependence was seen on the global hardness while the polyene models had a linear dependence in all cases.

Electronic and vibrational properties of carotenoids: from in vitro to in vivo

Carotenoids are among the most important organic compounds present in Nature and play several essential roles in biology. Their configuration is responsible for their specific photophysical properties, which can be tailored by changes in their molecular structure and in the surrounding environment. In this review, we give a general description of the main electronic and vibrational properties of carotenoids. In the first part, we describe how the electronic and vibrational properties are related to the molecular configuration of carotenoids. We show how modifications to their configuration, as well as the addition of functional groups, can affect the length of the conjugated chain. We describe the concept of effective conjugation length, and its relationship to the S 0 → S 2 electronic transition, the decay rate of the S 1 energetic level and the frequency of the ν 1 Raman band. We then consider the dependence of these properties on extrinsic parameters such as the polarizability of their environment, and how this information (S 0 → S 2 electronic transition, ν 1 band position, effective conjugation length and polarizability of the environment) can be represented on a single graph. In the second part of the review, we use a number of specific examples to show that the relationships can be used to disentangle the different mechanisms tuning the functional properties of protein-bound carotenoids.

Effective conjugation in conjugated polymers with strongly twisted backbones: a case study on fluorinated MEHPPV

Strongly twisted conjugated polymers demand a redefinition of the ‘effective conjugation length’, extracted here graphically by a facile method.