Triphenylene Substituted Pyrene Derivative: Synthesis and Single Molecule Investigation

Abstract

A novel donor–acceptor material based on pyrene derivative with two substituted triphenylenes (Py-TP2) is synthesized via the Sonogashira coupling reaction. The structure and physical chemistry properties of the target molecule have been discussed, ranging from the traditional ¹H NMR and high-resolution mass spectroscopy (HRMS), over UV and PL spectra, and to the surface science research. The results revealed that the Py-TP2 molecule shows a narrowed energy gap between LUMO–HOMO and a bathochromic shift of 27 nm in the solid state as compared to that in solution, which is important for its practical applications in optoeletronic devices. Moreover, combined with DFT calculations, our STM results clearly show that the Py-TP2 molecule assembled into a stable long-ranged zigzag structure on HOPG surface. The interesting results in this contribution will boost the physical chemistry study of other functional materials under such methods