Abstract:
In this work the synthesis and characterization of chiral charge transfer dyes
is presented. The dyes consist of a carbazole donor (D), a thiophene π-conjugated
spacer (S), a benzothiadiazole primary acceptor (A1), BINOL as a chiral bridge (B)
and a cyanacrylic ester as a secondary acceptor (A2), or a TEMPO stable free
radical (SFR). The modular synthetic approach to synthesize these dyes is
primarily based on Stille and Sonogashira cross-coupling reactions. This approach
allows for the modular assembly of the molecular building blocks.
In the synthesized dyes, photoinduced intramolecular charge transfer (CT)
of an electron from the electron rich donor moiety to the electron withdrawing
acceptor part takes place. During this process, the electron moves through a chiral
bridge. Therefore, the presented dyes allow the study of intramolecular chiral
induced spin selectivity (CISS) effects. The CISS effect describes a phenomenon
where electrons moving through a chiral environment are filtered according to their
electron spin. CISS effects has received increasing attention in the research field
of spintronics, which uses the quantized nature of the electron spin for digital data
storage and manipulation. Further progress in the field of CISS facilitate spintronics
to be used in versatile real-life applications. The research field of quantum
information science (QIS) goes one step beyond spintronics and uses systems of
multiple spins to manipulate and transport information in the form of the magnetic
exchange between interacting electron spins. Appending a SFR to a chiral dye
allows for the study of the interaction between a stable unpaired spin of a radical,
and the charge-separated exited state of the charge-transfer system. Knowledge
off these interactions can help to design functional systems for QIS applications.
Two series of dyes varying in the spatial arrangement of D, B and A1 were
synthesized. In series I dyes D and A1 are on the same side of B resulting in a
D-S-A1-B-A2/SFR arrangement. The charge transfer in series I dyes takes place
between D and A1, but does not pass through the chiral bridge to A2 or the SFR
group. Substitution of the D, with electron donating n-butoxy groups, facilitates the
CT process but does not allow CT to A2. In series II dyes D and A1 are separated
by the chiral bridge to enforce CT over or through the chiral moiety. Therefore,
molecules in series II dyes have a D-S-B-A1-S-A2/SFR arrangement.
Computational results support the experimental evidence, that a CT across B
requires the separation of D and A1. These molecules were sent to international
collaborators to study intramolecular CISS effects and the interaction of the SFR
and the charge transfer system.