Innovative method for producing complex molecules

FAU team of researchers make a breakthrough in organic chemistry

A team of researchers at the Department of Chemistry and Pharmacy at FAU has successfully solved the problem of finding a straightforward, cost-effective process for producing hexaarylbenzene molecules with six different aromatic rings. These molecules are important for a generation of new functional materials. The results were published in the renowned journal ‘Angewandte Chemie’.

Until now, it has been possible to use certain chemical procedures to produce simple, symmetrical hexaarylbenzene (HAB) molecules, in which the hydrogen atoms of the benzene are replaced by the same atomic groups. However, only very little HAB was produced in this way.

The team of researchers led by Prof. Dr. Svetlana Tsogoeva and Prof. Dr. Norbert Jux, both professors of organic chemistry, has now developed a process which even allows asymmetrical HAB with six different aromatic rings around the benzene core to be produced simply and straightforwardly. In an efficient, four-step domino reaction, the researchers produced an initial compound without the aid of – at times toxic – metals, and used this compound to synthesise large quantities of asymmetrical HAB. Controls are carried out throughout the procedure to monitor which atom groups replace the hydrogen atoms of the benzene.

These still unexplored HABs may be of use for developing innovative liquid crystalline materials or for organic electronics.

Further information

https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202104437

Prof. Dr. Svetlana Tsogoeva
Phone: +49 9131 85 65573
svetlana.tsogoeva@fau.de