title: Synthesis and study of redox-active acyclic triazenes: toward electrochromic applications.
abstract: Coupling of various 4-substituted phenyl azides with two distinct quinone-containing N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) afforded the respective mono- and ditopic 1,3-disubstituted acyclic triazenes in moderate to excellent yields (38-92%). Depending on their pendant substituents (derived from the azides), the acyclic triazenes exhibited intense absorptions in the visible spectrum (359-428 nm), which were bathochromically shifted by up to Δλ=68 nm upon reduction of the quinone moiety on the component derived from the NHC. Cyclic voltammetry confirmed that the aforementioned redox processes were reversible, and a related set of UV-vis spectroelectrochemical experiments revealed that bulk electrolysis may also be used to switch reversibly the colors exhibited by these triazenes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, USA.
authors.forename: Robert J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Ono
authors.forename: Yasuo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Dimitri M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Khramov
authors.forename: Mitsuru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ueda
authors.forename: Jonathan L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Sessler
authors.forename: Christopher W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Bielawski