Single molecule aggregation-induced dual and white-light emissive etherified aroyl-

Area of Science:

• Organic Chemistry
• Materials Science
• Photophysics

Background:

• Ketene acetals are versatile organic synthons.
• Aggregation-induced emission (AIE) is crucial for advanced optical materials.
• Tuning solid-state emission properties is a key challenge in materials design.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel, efficient synthetic route for etherified aroyl-S,N-ketene acetals.
• To investigate the impact of structural modifications on solid-state emission and AIE characteristics.
• To explore the potential of these derivatives as single-molecule emitters.

Main Methods:

• One-pot synthesis involving addition-elimination and Williamson etherification.
• Spectroscopic analysis of solid-state emission.
• Evaluation of aggregation-induced emission (AIE) properties.
• Characterization of a hydroxy-methyl derivative for white-light emission.

Main Results:

• Successful synthesis of etherified aroyl-S,N-ketene acetals via a novel one-pot sequence.
• Demonstrated pronounced color-tuning of solid-state emission and AIE characteristics among derivatives.
• Identified a hydroxy-methyl derivative as an easily accessible mono molecular aggregation-induced white-light emitter.

Conclusions:

• The developed synthetic strategy provides access to functionalized ketene acetals with tunable photophysical properties.
• These compounds exhibit promising AIE characteristics suitable for solid-state applications.
• The identified white-light emitter offers a new avenue for single-molecule white-light emission technologies.