Stereo-electronic effect of the perfluoropropyl group on the solid-state molecular packing of isomeric dibenzo[a,c]phenazine derivatives

We report here the synthesis, characterization, and crystal structures of three perfluoropropylated dibenzo[a,c]phenazine constitutional isomers, in which the only difference among them was the positions of the perfluoropropyl substituents. The crystal structures of these perfluropropylated dibenzo[a,c]phenazine isomers indicated that the stereo-electronic effect of the perfluoropropyl group on the dibenzo[a,c]phenazine molecule plays a crucial role in determining the crystal-packing motif in the solid state. Our results from both X-ray crystallography and computational approaches revealed that the positions of the perfluoropropyl groups on the dibenzo[a,c]phenazine ring significantly affected the electrostatic potential distribution along the aromatic ring surface, resulting in drastic changes in the molecular packing in the solid state, from herringbone to lamellar crystal packing, among these three constitutional isomers. Simple topological consideration of the molecular packing in the solid state was coincidently cooperative with the changes in the electrostatic potential distributions, where localized partial positive and partial negative charges perhaps dominated the intermolecular interactions between the aromatic rings. Together, the perfluoropropylation on the dibenzo[a,c]phenazine ring provided us with a fortunate scenario, wherein the molecular topological structure and electrostatic potential worked together to facilitate the formation of the desired lamellar pi-pi stacked crystal packing. Meanwhile, electrochemistry, UV-visible absorption and emission spectra, and the computational chemistry results pointed out that there were only minor to moderate changes in the electronic properties of the molecules upon changing the position of the perfluoroalkylation on the dibenzo[a,c]phenazine core. While controlling the solid-state structure of aromatics by design still has a long way to go, we hope that our work will ignite a spark that can potentially spread into the field of the design of organic solid-state materials.

Automated summary

We report the synthesis, characterization, and crystal structures of three perfluoropropylated dibenzo[a,c]phenazine constitutional isomers, highlighting the role of perfluoropropyl group position in determining the crystal packing motif. X-ray crystallography and computational approaches reveal the significant impact of perfluoropropyl group position on the electrostatic potential distribution, leading to diverse molecular packing arrangements. The study shows the potential of perfluoropropylation in controlling solid-state arrangements and provides insights into the electronic properties of the molecules.