Periodic Reporting for period 1 - WavyRibbons (Wavy N-doped Graphene Nanoribbons for Single Molecule Electronics)
Reporting period: 2019-05-13 to 2021-05-12
Graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) combine the advantages of pristine graphene with the semiconducting properties required for applications in organic electronics. The properties of GNRs are significantly dependent on their structural variables such as molecular length, width, and edge structures. However, it remains quite challenging to achieve atomically precise control over the structures of GNRs simultaneously. WavyRibbons aimed to develop novel synthetic strategies to afford graphene nanoribbons with controllable length, wavy (hybrid armchair and zigzag) shape and proper anchoring end groups, and then to study the charge transport properties, which will provide new insights into the important but unexplored field of single-molecule electronics.
During this period, certain results towards the objectives of the action could be described as below:
1. Two of the three designed building blocks (the diamine building block A and the tetraone building block C) were successfully synthesized, and attempts to the tetraamine building block B were tried;
2. To test the reactivity of the synthesized building blocks, a series of model compounds, namely nitrogenated benzodipentaphenes with different shapes, were synthesized and fully characterized;
3. The first generation of the designed GNRs with thiadiazole units at the end as anchoring groups was obtained and fully characterized; and the synthesis of the second/third generation GNR was attempted.
1. Two of the three designed building blocks (the diamine building block A and the tetraone building block C) were successfully synthesized, and attempts to the tetraamine building block B were tried;
2. To test the reactivity of the synthesized building blocks, a series of model compounds, namely nitrogenated benzodipentaphenes with different shapes, were synthesized and fully characterized;
3. The first generation of the designed GNRs with thiadiazole units at the end as anchoring groups was obtained and fully characterized; and the synthesis of the second/third generation GNR was attempted.
Until now, the generation of the target wavy GNRs with anchoring end groups was successfully prepared and fully characterized, together with one model compound. Synthesis of the second/third generations of target GNRs was attempted.