Bis-morpholine-substituted perylene bisimides: Impact of isomeric arrangement on electrochemical and spectroelectrochemical properties

The synthesis and separation of the 1,6- and 1,7- isomers of N,N′-bis(n-butyl)dimorpholino-3,4:9,10-perylenetetracarboxylic acid bisimide are reported. Investigations of the electrochemical and spectroscopic, in particular, spectroelectrochemical, properties of the two isomers reveal a sequence of electrochemically and chemically reversible redox processes for both isomers. Importantly, the 1,7-isomer of N,N′-bis(n-butyl)dimorpholino-3,4:9,10-perylenetetracarboxylic acid bisimide was observed to undergo a two-electron oxidation process, which contrasts with the behavior of both the corresponding 1,6-isomer and other related amino-substituted perylene bis-imide species.