Understanding the reversible anodic behaviour and fluorescence properties of fluorenylazomethines — A structure–property study

A series of fluorenylazomethine dyads and triads were prepared by simple condensation between the corresponding amine and aldehyde fluorene derivatives. These compounds were prepared as model compounds for investigating the effects of substitution and electronic groups on both the electrochemical properties and fluorescence quantum yields. It was found that the oxidation potential could be decreased by both incorporating electron donating groups and increasing the degree of conjugation. It was further found that alkylation in the fluorene’s 9-position increased the azomethine degree of conjugation by forcing all the fluorene moieties to be coplanar with the azomethine bonds to which they are attached. Meanwhile, reversible radical cation behaviour was possible by substituting the terminal 2,2′-positions with atoms other than hydrogen. The radical cation was theoretically found to be distributed evenly across the fluorene, corroborating the reversible anodic behaviour with 2,2′-substitution. The fluorescence quantum yields of the azomethines were not found to be dependent on substitution. This was because the azomethine fluorescence was found to be quenched relative to their precursors regardless of substitution. The fluorescence could be restored at both low temperature and by acid protonation.