Phenylene-Bridged Grossly Warped Radical Nanographenes

ended

Here, I propose the exploitation of hitherto unknown grossly warped cationic nanographenes and investigate their unique properties with a view to energy storage and luminescent devices. This Action combines aspects of odd-numbered ring (heptagonal) aromatic cations and open-shell aromatic systems, which are both underutilised in contemporary chemistry. The project will lend new fundamental insights into their self-assembly, optoelectronics, and redox chemistry, bringing them into the mainstream. Investigating these materials will also give insights into the roles of heptagonal defects in carbon nanomaterials, e.g., graphene. The primary objectives of this proposal are (1) to develop scalable synthetic routes to as yet unexplored open-shell warped nanographene ions containing tropylium cation (TP) cores, (2) to investigate and characterise their optical and electronic spin properties and (3) to carry out in depth DFT calculations.