An exceptional red shift of emission maxima upon fluorine substitution

The effect of perfluorination on photophysical properties was investigated through synthesis and photophysical characterization of two isostructural donor-acceptor-donor dye molecules. The synthesis of two versatile fluorinated benzene compounds, 1,4-difluoro-2,5-diperfluorooctylbenzene (1) and 1,4-dibromo-2,5-difluoro-3,6-diperfluorooctylbenzene (2), is presented. The X-ray structure of 2 has been determined and shows that the perfluorinated octyl chains segregate from the benzene rings in the solid state, giving rise to a layered structure. The further synthesis through Suzuki coupling reactions using 4-formylbenzeneboronic acid with (2) and 1,4-dibromo-2,5-dioctylbenzene (3) gave, respectively, 1,4-diformyl-2',5'-difluoro-3',6'-diperfluorooctyl-p-terphenylene (4) and 1,4-diformyl-2',5'-dioctyl-p-terphenylene (5). The condensation of the dialdehydes 4 and 5 with 9,10-phenanthrenequinone and ammoniumbicarbonate in glacial acetic acid gave the dye molecules 1,4-bis(1H-phenanthro[9,10-]imidazol-2-yl)-2',5'-difluoro-3',6'-diperfluorooctyl-p-terphenylene (6) and 1,4-bis(1H-phenanthro[9,10-d]imidazol-2-yl)-2',5'-dioctyl-p-terphenylene (7), respectively. The UV-vis spectra of the two molecules are nearly identical, whereas the fluorescence spectra are very different. Compound 7 shows blue fluorescence with little solvent dependence (lambdaemission = 410 nm in THF, CH2Cl2, and hexane), whereas compound 6 shows a highly solvent-dependent emission wavelength (lambda(emission) = 583 nm in THF, lambda(emission) 560 nm in CH2Cl2, and lambda(emission) = 450 nm in hexane). The fluorescence red shift of compound 6 in a series of solvents with different polarity is discussed using the Lippert-Mataga equation. Fluorescence lifetime and quantum yields were also determined. Ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) was performed on thin films of compound 6 and 7 on a gold substrate. The observed ionization potential was 4.55 eV in both cases.