Core-insertion of palladium in naphthalenediimides: Opto-electronic properties, structural insights and coupling studies

Abstract Synthesis and isolation of palladium inserted functional π-scaffold is considered a major challenge due to its high instability and reactivity towards molecular oxygen. Herein, we report two σ -bonded compounds ( 1 and 2) between Naphthalenediimide (NDI) and palladium triphenylphosphine. Both these core-substituted NDI-palladium compounds have been characterized as NDI-{Pd(PPh 3 ) 2 Br} 2 having two Pd(PPh 3 ) 2 ( 1 ) and (C 3 H 7 )NH-NDI-Pd(PPh 3 ) 2 Br having one Pd(PPh 3 ) 2 and n -propylamine as a donor moiety ( 2 ). Both the NDI-Pd compounds have been prepared by oxidative addition of Pd(0) triphenylphosphine with their respective core-brominated NDI having axially substituted n -hexyl groups. Interestingly, both these compounds showed remarkable stability towards column chromatography. Syntheses of 1 and 2 have been well characterised by different spectroscopic and analytical techniques. Cyclic voltammetry experiments were performed to understand the redox properties of the isolated NDI-Pd compounds. The structures of 1 and 2 have been crystallographically characterised. Solid state packing of both the compounds display strong intramolecular π-π stacking interactions between the electron-deficient NDI scaffold and the phenyl rings of the PPh 3 unit(s). Moreover, both 1 and 2 exhibits interesting self-assembled architectures via intermolecular hydrogen and halogen bonding. Theoretical calculations were performed to evaluate frontier molecular orbitals and the intramolecular interactions. Furthermore, compound 1 was further utilized for the synthesis of Suzuki coupled bis- cyanophenyl compound in high yield.