title: Overcrowded 1,8-diazafluorenylidene-chalcoxanthenes. Introducing nitrogens at the fjord regions of bistricyclic aromatic enes.
abstract: The effects of introducing nitrogen atoms in the fjord regions and chalcogen bridges on the conformations of overcrowded bistricyclic aromatic enes (1, X not equal to Y) (BAEs) were studied. 9-(9'H-1',8'-Diazafluoren-9'-ylidene)-9H-thioxanthene (12), 9-(9H-1',8'-diazafluoren-9'-ylidene)-9H-selenoxanthene (13), 9-(9'H-1',8'-diazafluoren-9'-ylidene)-9H-telluroxanthene (14), 9-(9' H-1',8'-fluoren-9-ylidene)-9H-xanthene (15) and 9-(9' H-1',8'-fluoren-9'-ylidene)-9H-fluorene (16) were synthesized by two-fold extrusion coupling reactions of 1,8-diaza-9H-fluoren-9-one (19)/chalcoxanthenthiones (24-27) (or /9H-fluorene-9-thione (30)). The 1',8'-diazafluoren-9-ylidene-chalcoxanthenes (11) were compared with the respective fluoren-9-ylidene-chalcoxanthenes (10). The structures of 12-16 were established by 1H, 13C, 77Se, and 125Te NMR spectroscopies. The crystal and molecular structures of 12-14 were determined by X-ray analysis. The yellow molecules of 12-14 adopted mono-folded conformations with folding dihedrals in the chalocoxanthylidene moieties of 62.7 degrees (12), 62.4 degrees (13) and 59.9 degrees (14). The folding dihedrals in the respective 1',8'-diazafluorenylidene moieties were very small, ca. 2 degrees, compared with 10.2/8.0 degrees in (9'H-fluoren-9'-ylidene)-9H-selenoxanthene (7). A 5 degree pure twist of C9=C9' in 14 is noted. The degrees of overcrowding in the fjord regions of 12-14 (intramolecular non-bonding distances) were relatively small. The degrees of pyramidalization of C9 and C9' were 17.0/3.0 degrees (12), 17.4/2.4 degrees (13) and 2.2/2.2 degrees (14). These high values in 12 and 13 stem from the resistance of the 1.8-diazafluorenylidene moiety to fold and from the limits in the degrees of folding of the thioxanthylidene and selenoxanthylidene moieties (due to shorter S10-C4a/S10-C10a and Se10-C4a/Se10-C10a bonds, as compared with the respective Te-C bonds in 14). The molecules of 15 and 16 adopt twisted conformations, a conclusion drawn from the 1H NMR chemical shifts of the fjord regions protons (H1 and H8) at 8.70 (15) and 9.00 ppm (16) and from their colors and UV/VIS spectra: 15 is purple (lambdamax = 521 nm) and 16 is orange-red. A comparison of the NMR spectra of 11 and 10 (deltadelta = delta(11) -delta(10)) showed substantial downfield shifts of 0.56-0.62 ppm of the fjord regions protons of twisted 15 and 16: deltadelta (C9) were negative (upfield): -4.0 (12), -3.7 (13), -3.4 (14), -7.1 (15), -5.0 ppm (16), while deltadelta (C9') were positive (downfield) = +6.8 (12), +6.5 (13), +5.8 (14), + 11.7 (15), +7.7 ppm (16). In 15, deltadelta (C9) - deltadelta (C9') = + 18.8 ppm, attributed to a push-pull character and significant contributions of zwitterionic structures in the twisted conformation. The 77Se and 125Te NMR signals of 13 and 14 were shifted upfield relative to the respective fluorenylidene-chalcoxanthene derivatives: deltadelta77Se = 17.2 ppm and deltadelta125Te = 22.0 ppm. The presence of the nitrogen atoms (N1' and N8') in 13 and 14 causes shielding of the selenium and tellurium nuclei.
authors.affiliation: Department of Organic Chemistry, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91904, Israel.
authors.forename: Amalia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Levy
authors.forename: Shmuel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.forename: Israel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Agranat