Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 5, 2026

Preparation of a Corannulene-functionalized Hexahelicene by Copper(I)-catalyzed Alkyne-azide Cycloaddition of Nonplanar Polyaromatic Units
Published on: September 18, 2016
Synthesis and structure-property relationships of donor/acceptor-functionalized bis(dehydrobenzo[18]annuleno)benzenes
Eric L Spitler1, Michael M Haley
1Department of Chemistry and Materials Science Institute, 1253 University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97403-1253, USA.
Abstract:
Seven new bis(dehydrobenzo[18]annuleno)benzenes (bis[18]DBAs) functionalized with electron-donating dibutylamino groups and/or accepting nitro groups at various positions along the peripheries of the chromophores have been prepared. The effects of varying the donor/acceptor charge transfer pathways, chromophore lengths and molecular symmetries upon the optical band gaps are studied using UV-visible spectroscopy, and structure-property correlations are identified. It is found that bis[18]DBAs possessing donor-pi-donor and acceptor-pi-acceptor pathways exhibit the smallest band gaps, especially when an acceptor-pi-acceptor pathway is situated along the longest chromophore length in the molecule. The all-donor species is also found to exhibit efficient fluorescence with dramatic solvatochromism. The results may have value to the rational design of future NLO/TPA device components.
Related Concept Videos
Structure of Conjugated Dienes
Conjugated dienes are compounds characterized by the presence of alternating double and single bonds. In a conjugated system like 1,3-butadiene, the unhybridized 2p orbital on each carbon overlaps continuously, allowing the π electrons to be delocalized across the entire molecule. In contrast, this type of overlap does not occur in cumulated and isolated dienes, such as 2,3-pentadiene and 1,4-pentadiene, respectively. Instead, the π electrons remain localized between the double...
Structure of Benzene: Molecular Orbital Model
Diels–Alder Reaction: Characteristics of Dienes
Characteristics of the diene
Conformation
The simplest example of a diene is 1,3-butadiene, an acyclic conjugated π system. At room temperature, the molecule exists as a mixture of s-cis and s-trans conformers by virtue of rotation around the carbon–carbon single bond. Although the s-trans isomer is more stable, the...
[4+2] Cycloaddition of Conjugated Dienes: Diels–Alder Reaction
π Molecular Orbitals of 1,3-Butadiene
The simplest conjugated diene is 1,3-butadiene: a four-carbon system where each carbon is sp2-hybridized and has an unhybridized p orbital that contains an unpaired electron. According to molecular orbital theory, atomic orbitals combine to form molecular orbitals such that the number...
Stability of Conjugated Dienes
A comparison of the enthalpies of hydrogenation of dienes reveals that conjugated dienes release less heat on hydrogenation, rendering them more stable than their nonconjugated analogs.

