Citation:
Zhiying Wu, Hongwei Qian, Xiuxiu Li, Tangxin Xiao, Leyong Wang. Recent advances in two-step energy transfer light-harvesting systems driven by non-covalent self-assembly[J]. Chinese Chemical Letters,
;2024, 35(1): 108829.
doi:
10.1016/j.cclet.2023.108829
Recent advances in two-step energy transfer light-harvesting systems driven by non-covalent self-assembly
Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Advanced Catalytic Materials and Technology, School of Petrochemical Engineering, Changzhou University, Changzhou 213164, China
b.
Key Laboratory of Mesoscopic Chemistry of MOE, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
☆ Dedicated to Professor Xiao-Qiang Sun on the occasion of his 67th birthday. * Corresponding author. E-mail address: xiaotangxin@cczu.edu.cn (T. Xiao).
Received Date:
10 April 2023 Revised Date:
29 June 2023 Accepted Date:
20 July 2023 Available Online:
23 July 2023
Sequential energy transfer is ubiquitous in natural light-harvesting systems (LHSs), which greatly promotes the exploitation of light energy. The LHSs in nature are sophisticated supramolecular assemblies of chlorophyll molecules that carry out efficient light harvesting through cascade energy transfer process. Inspired by nature, scientists have paid much attention to fabricate stepwise LHSs based on assorted supramolecular scaffolds in recent years. Light-harvesting antennas and energy acceptors can be accommodated in particular scaffolds, which offer great convenience for energy transfer between them. These systems not only further mimic photosynthesis, but also demonstrate many potential applications, such as photocatalysis, tunable luminescence, and information encryption, etc. In this review article, aiming at offering a practical guide to this emerging research field, the introduction of construction strategies towards sequential LHSs will be presented. Different scaffolds are classified and highlighted, including host-guest assemblies, metal-coordination assemblies, as well as bio-macromolecular and other supramolecular scaffolds.
Monofluoro- and difluoro-containing organic molecules have become tremendously important in pharmaceuticals [1, 2], agrochemicals [3], and materials [4], owing to the unique properties of fluorine atom and its incorporation enhances the chemical and biological properties of the target compounds [5, 6]. In the last decades, numerous mono- and difluoroalkylating precursors and C–F bond formation strategies have been established for the introduction of fluorine atoms into organic compounds [7-11]. Aside from this, the defluorinative functionalization of inert C-F bonds of CF3 compounds is also an important pathway to the synthesis of useful partially fluorinated organic molecules [12-14]. Such strategy has gained an ever-increasing interest, given the low cost of many CF3 sources and numerous routes available to install CF3 motifs [15, 16]. In general, the cleavage of C–F bond of CF3 groups proceeds through heterolytic pathway, affording difluoro-substituted carbon cations or anions as intermediates, and a number of comprehensive reviews have summarized the progress of this research topic [6].
Defluorination reactions via radical intermediates represent a class of powerful transformations, in which the radical species can undergo different reaction pathways as compared to ionic intermediates, and thus providing versatile routes for chemical bond formation. However, such reactions are still insufficiently studied because of the high bond dissociated energy (BDE) of C–F bond that makes homolytic cleavage extremely difficult [17]. Moreover, since C–F bond strength continuously decreases as defluorination proceeds, selectively formation of di- and monofluoroalkyl radical intermediates in a controlled manner becomes exceedingly difficult and exhaustive defluorination is often resulted [18, 19]. So far, there have been some reports on deflurinative generation of radical interemediates and the CF3 group is required to attached to a π-system, such as arenes, alkenes, and carbonyls, so that the substrates can accept a single electron or a radical species and then induces fluoride anion elimination. This review will summarize recent progress of this topic and focus more on the mechanistic discussion. Meanwhile, the synthetic applications of the resulting radical intermediates will also be introduced.
2.
C–F bond functionalization of trifluoromethylarenes
Selective functionalization of C(sp3)−F bond in trifluoromethylarenes has found an important place in modern organic synthesis, which provides direct access to the synthesis of a diverse range of aryldifluoromethyl and arylmonofluoromethyl molecules [14, 20, 21]. Generally, defluorination occurs with the aid of UV irradiation [22, 23] or under reductive reaction conditions. In the later cases, electrochemical reduction [24-26] and the use of Mg metal as the reducing agents are required [27-29]. The reduction mechanism via radical intermediates is shown in Scheme 1. The reaction begins with single-electron reduction of trifluoromethylarenes to generate radical anion intermediates, and subsequent elimination of a fluoride anion gives radical intermediates. These radical species can be easily reduced under strong reductive reaction conditions, affording carbanion intermediates, which can be trapped by electrophiles to deliver difluoro products.
Scheme 1
Scheme 1.
A general mechanism for C–F bond cleavage of trifluoromethylarenes.
For example, in 2017, Prakash and co-workers demonstrated a magnesium metal-promoted defluorination of bis (trifluoromethyl) arenes in the presence of Brønsted acid for the synthesis of difluoromethyl-containing arenes (Scheme 2) [30]. In this protocol, functional groups like free amine, alcohol are well tolerated. However, reduction of all three C–F bonds was observed in the case of nitrile substituents.
Scheme 2
Scheme 2.
Mg-promoted reductive defluorination of trifluoromethylarenes.
The strategy shown above is difficult to capture the radical intermediate by various radical traps, as it prefers to undergo further reduction under those strong reductive reaction conditions. To address this challenge, developing new reductive protocols that can prevent the second reduction is desirable. Photoredox catalysis has recently emerged as a powerful method in organic synthesis. Notably, a large number of photoredox catalysts with a broad range of redox potentials are readily available, thus offering ample opportunities to precisely control the redox process. By taking this advantage, some defluorination reactions that can selectively generate difluoromethyl radical without further reduction have been reported. These radicals further participate in various transformations to access valuable ArCF2R derivatives.
Gschwind and König reported a protocol that emerges photoredox catalysis and Lewis acid activation, by which a single C−F bond of trifluoromethylarenes was selectively cleaved, giving aryldifluoromethyl radical intermediates. Those radicals were capable of performing radical addition to methacrylamides followed by cyclization to afford aryldifluoromethyl-tethered indolinone derivatives. Mechanistic studies suggested that the in situ generated acidic borenium cation serves as an efficient fluoride scavenger that can accelerate the radical generation (Scheme 3) [31].
Scheme 3
Scheme 3.
C−F bond functionalization of trifluoromethylarenes through cascade radical addition with methylacrylamides.
After that, Qiu and Guo have extended this strategy to enable a tandem C(sp3)–F and C–C bond functionalization through defluoroalkylation–distal migration of the heteroaryl group (Scheme 4) [32]. The reaction begins with the reductive generation of α, α-difluorobenzylic radical intermediates, which are then trapped by simple olefins. The resulting alkyl radical attacks an intramolecular heteroaryl ring to trigger a distal aryl migration, and the ensuing oxidation and deprotonation affords ketone products.
Scheme 4
Scheme 4.
C(sp3)–F and C–C bond functionalization through defluoroalkylation– distal heteroaryl migration.
Jui and co-workers developed a new catalytic system for the single C–F bond cleavage of trifluoromethylarenes under visible light irradiation [33]. In this protocol, N-phenylphenothiazine (PTH) was employed as photocatalyst and cyclohexanethiol (CySH) was used to promote hydrogen atom transfer (HAT). Under irradiation by blue LED, the highly reducing excited state PTH* (E1/2* = −2.10 V vs. SCE) can deliver an electron to 1, 3-bistrifluoromethylbenzene (E01/2 = −2.07 V vs. SCE) to generate difluorobenzylic radicals with the elimination of a fluoride anion. These radical intermediates then undergo efficient intermolecular coupling with simple alkenes to forge the desired difluoro products (Scheme 5A). This protocol is highly sensitive to the electronic properties of the trifluoromethylaromatic ring. Only the aryl ring bearing an additional strong electron-withdrawing group, such as CF3, phosphonate, and sulfonamide, is amenable in the reaction.
Scheme 5
Scheme 5.
A single C–F bond functionalization of ArCF3via photoredox HAT dual catalytic strategy.
To address this limitation, the same group then developed a method employing Miyake's phenoxazine (E1/2* = −1.70 V vs. SCE) as the photocatalyst, which has a long-lived triplet excited state. This method allows monodefluoroalkylation and monohydrodefluorination of unactivated trifluorotoluene derivatives (Scheme 5B) [34]. As reported by the recent work of this group, a powerful single electron reductant (CO2•−) (E1/2* = −2.20 V vs. SCE) can be generated via hydrogen atom transfer from a formate salt to a thiyl radical under the same reaction condition [35] and this reductant is likely also involved in this transformation.
Gouverneur and co-workers quite recently disclosed a phtoredox protocol for the reductive defluorination of electron-poor trifluoromethylarenes under basic conditions (Scheme 6) [36]. In this method, 2, 4, 5, 6-tetrakis(diphenylamino)isophthalonitrile (4-DPA-IPN) was used as the organophotocatalyst, 4-hydroxythiophenol was used as the hydrogen atom donor, under blue light irradiation, a series of complex trifluoromethylated drugs could be transformed into the corresponding difluoromethyl derivatives.
Scheme 6
Scheme 6.
Hydrodefluorination of trifluoromethylarenes.
Bander and co-workers developed a fluoride-initiated coupling reaction between trifluoromethylarenes and allylsilanes to access allylated α, α-difluorobenzylic compounds (Scheme 7) [37]. First, fluoride ion act as Lewis base and coordinate to allyltrimethylsilane to give pentacoordinate and hexacoordinate silicate intermediates, which then undergo single electron transfer (SET) to the trifluoromethylarene. The following cleavage of both a C–F and a C–Si bond induces concurrent generation of an α, α-difluorobenzylic radical and an allyl radical, and the quick recombination affords a defluoroallylation product. The expelled fluoride anion then activates another molecule of allyltrimethylsilane.
Scheme 7
Scheme 7.
C–F bond functionalization via fluoride-initiated sequential allylation
Quite recently, Yasuda and co-workers reported a defluoroallylation reaction of perfluoroalkylarenes using Ir(Ⅲ) photocatalyst and organotin reagent in cooperative mode of catalysis under visible light irradiation [38]. In this transformation, the C–F bond functionalization takes place selectively at the benzylic position through perfluoroalkyl radicals generated from perfluoroalkylarenes by excited Ir(ppy)3 in a single electron transfer pathway (Scheme 8). It should be noted that the destabilization and steric hindrance effects of the resulting perfluoroalkyl radicals are unfavorable for the sequential bond-forming reaction, thereby resulting in a retroprocess including back electron transfer and F− addition. Further DFT calculations suggest that the in situ generated Bu3SnF is capable of trapping F−, which can suppress this retroreaction step. The generated perfluoroalkyl radicals then undergo addition to allylic stannanes followed by single electron oxidation and elimination of the stannyl cation, affording the corresponding defluoroallylation products.
Scheme 8
Scheme 8.
C–F bond functionalization of perfluoroalkylarenes via defluorinative allylation reaction.
3.
C–F bond functionalizations of trifluoromethyl alkenes
Trifluoromethyl alkenes are privileged structural motifs for synthesizing a diverse range of partially fluorinated or nonfluorinated compounds. Over the past decades, various research groups have used visible-light-mediated reactions of carbon and heteroatom nucleophiles with α-trifluoromethyl alkenes to synthesize gem-difluoroalkenes [14, 21]. The general mechanism is shown in Scheme 9. Initially, the excited photocatalyst (PC*) is reductively quenched by a radical precursor, affording the radical R• and PC•−. Radical addition to trifluoromethyl alkene forms α-CF3 alkyl radical, which would be further reduced by PC•− to give sp3-hybridized carbanion and regenerate PC. Finally, β-fluoride elimination shifts the double bond to give gem-difluoroalkene products
Scheme 9
Scheme 9.
The general mechanism of photoredox-catalyzed C–F bond cleavage of trifluoromethyl alkenes.
This strategy was applied to the decarboxylative/defluorinative cross coupling of α-keto acids and trifluoromethyl alkenes for the synthesis of γ, γ-difluoroallylic ketones using an Ir-based photocatalyst excited under blue light (Scheme 10) [39]. This reaction features mild reaction conditions, simple operation, and good functional group tolerance. The process could also be extended to N-Boc protected α-amino acids for the synthesis of 1, 1-difluorohomoallylic amines. The resulting functionalized gem-difluoroalkenes can be transformed to various difluoromethylated compounds and monofluorinated heterocycles.
Scheme 10
Scheme 10.
Photocatalytic decarboxylative/defluorinative functionalization of trifluoromethyl alkenes.
In 2017, Molander also demonstrated a visible light-mediated process for the synthesis of 1, 1-difluoroalkenes by using an array of CF3-substituted alkenes with different carbon-radical precursors via radical defluorinative alkylation process (Scheme 11) [40]. When α-silylamines were employed, various amine-tethered gem-difluoroalkenes were produced. Potassium organotrifluoroborates and alkylbis(catecholato)silicates are also used as competent precursors of carbon centered radicals, providing a route to install a variety of alkyl-substituted gem-difluoroalkenes.
Scheme 11
Scheme 11.
Photocatalytic construction of 1,1-difluoroalkenes from different radical precursors.
Organoboron compounds have broad applications in chemical synthesis, material sciences, and medicinal chemistry. Recently, the groups of Wang [41], Yang [42] and Wu [43] independently reported photoredox catalysis-enabled radical defluorinative borylations of trifluoromethyl alkenes to afford a wide range of gem-difluoroallylboranes. In Wang's work (Scheme 12), the key step is the generation of N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC)-BH2•via a single-electron oxidation of NHC-BH3 (Ep/2 = + 0.76 V vs. SCE) by IrⅣ(ppy)3 (E1/2red [IrⅣ/IrⅢ] = + 0.77 V vs. SCE), which subsequently undergoes cross-coupling with the in situ generated radical anions to yield the defluoroborylation products [44].
Scheme 12
Scheme 12.
Photoredox-catalyzed radical defluorinative borylation of trifluoromethyl alkenes.
While in Yang's protocol (Scheme 13), NHC-BH3 is directly oxidized by excited Ir(Ⅲ) species followed by deprotonation to generate NHC-boryl radical. The following addition to CF3-substituted styrene gives an α-trifluoromethyl radical that then undergoes single electron reduction by Ir(Ⅱ) to form a carbanion intermediate. Finally, β-fluoride elimination affords the corresponding gem-difluoroallylboranes. In contrast, NHC-boryl radical is generated by HAT process in Wu's procedure. The excited photocatalyst oxidizes a thiol catalyst to produce a thiyl radical, which then abstracts a hydrogen atom from NHC-BH3 to generate NHC-boryl radical [45]. The ensuring transformation including radical addition, SET reduction by the reduced state of the photocatalyst, and fluoride elimination, provides gem-difluoroallylborane products.
Scheme 13
Scheme 13.
Visible-light induced selective defluoroborylation of trifluoromethylalkenes.
4.
C–F bond functionalization of trifluoromethyl carbonyl compounds
The carbonyl group is an important unit in organic molecules due to its rich chemistry in further transformations. α, α, α-Trifluorocarbonyl compounds are a class of versatile precursors for the synthesis of di- and monofluorocarbonyl products. Previously, the defluorination of these moieties are exploited using reduction methods with low valent metals as the reducing agents [46] or by electrolysis [47]. For example, using Mg as a reducing agent, α, α, α-trifluoroketones are converted to 2, 2-difluoroenol silyl ethers, wherein chlorotrimethyl silane (TMSCl) is used to trap the resulting enolates (Scheme 14) [28]. The possible mechanism involves a two-electron transfer process, As shown in Scheme 14, the first electron transfer from Mg to ketone gives a ketyl species, which is further reduced to an anionic species by Mg. After β-fluoride elimination, 2-fluoroenol silyl ether is formed as final product. Di-fluoroenol silyl ethers are potentially useful building blocks for various difluoro compounds such as β-hydroxy ketones 45, α-halodifluoromethyl ketones 46, 1, 5-dicarbonyl compounds 47. The intramolecular [2 + 2] cycloaddition affords tetrafluorocyclobutanediols 48. It can also undergo transition metal catalyzed cross coupling reactions to give arylated products 49 and 50.
Scheme 14
Scheme 14.
Mg metal-promoted C–F bond activation of trifluoromethyl carbonyls compounds.
Samarium(Ⅱ) iodide in conjunction with trimethylamine and water is another single-electron reduction approach used for α-defluorination of esters or amides (Scheme 15) [18]. In this defluorination reaction, low temperature (-78 ℃) and the addition of Et3N is crucial for controlling the degree of the defluorination process. However, only moderate yield and selectivity could be obtained by this strategy.
Scheme 15
Scheme 15.
SmI2-promoted defluorination of trifluoroacetyl esters and amides.
Very recently, Wang's group reported a 4-dimethylamino pyridine-boryl radical promoted sequential C–F bond functionalizations of trifluoromethyl group (Scheme 16) [48]. The strategy comprises a controllable two-stage process, each involving a spin-center shift (SCS) pathway for defluorination. In stage A, the reaction starts by the attack of dimethylaminopyridine-BH2• (DMAP-BH2•) to the carbonyl oxygen atom of CF3-carbonyl molecules, and the following defluorination occurs via an SCS mechanism, giving α, α-difluorocarbonyl radical intermediates. These intermediates are then reduced by a thiol catalyst or captured by alkenes to afford a wide range of difluorocarbonyl products. In stage A, these difluoro compounds repeat the same process, furnishing diverse monofluoro products. As outlined in Scheme 16, this two-stage process shows broad substrate scope and good chemoselectivity. For example, reduction of stages A and B intermediates, wherein RSH was used as the polarity reversal catalyst, can afford di- and monofluoromethyl products selectively, and only minor over-reduction products were observed in the formation of difluoro products. Notably, no trihydrodefluorination product is detected in both cases. Alkenes could be used as the radical trap in both stages A and B, leading to diverse defluorinative coupling products. Interestingly, when two different alkenes were employed in stages A and B, products containing a monofluorinated-tertiary stereogenic center were constructed.
Scheme 16
Scheme 16.
Sequential C–F bond functionalizations of trifluoroacetamides and trifluoroacetates via spin-center shifts.
Further DFT calculations revealed that the chemoselectivity is controlled by the declining reactivity of DMAP-BH2• towards the addition to the defluorinated products, which is attributed to the increasing singly occupied molecular orbital (SOMO)/lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) gaps between DMAP-BH2• and the substrates. Therefore, once the first fluoride is removed, the resulting carbonyl group becomes less reactive, thus ensuring excellent chemoselectivity during defluorination [49].
5.
Conclusion
C–F bond functionalization of CF3-compounds has recently appeared as an efficient method for the synthesis of partially fluorinated molecules. Recent advances on electrochemistry, photoredox catalysis, and radical chemistry of main group elements have rendered more strategies for C–F bond functionalization reactions. In this review, we summarized recent progress on C–F bond functionalization of CF3 groups involving radical intermediates as the main transformation pathways. Although the C–F bond in the trifluoromethyl group is extremely inert and the defluorination chemoselectivity is difficult to control, important advancement has been made in selective functionalizations of one or two C–F bonds in CF3 groups by different strategies. However, the limitations and challenges are still remained. For example, the sequential functionalization of C–F bonds of trifluoromethylarenes and α, α, α-trifluoroketones with high chemoselectivity has still remained an unsolved challenge. Moreover, the combination of radical chemistry and transition metal catalysis, which is expected to be a powerful tool to construct diversified mono- and difluoro products, has not been well studied. Furthermore, enantioselective transformations of difluoro compounds that are accessed from simple CF3 sources has not been achieved yet. The realization of such strategy would of great value to make monofluorinated tertiary stereogenic centers [50] with high enantioselectiity from simple fluorine sources. We can expect that defluorinative functionalization strategies will continue to make important contributions in organic synthesis, medicinal chemistry, and material science.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors report no declarations of interest.
Acknowledgments
We thank the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 21971226) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. WK2060000017) for financial support.
Siwei Wang
, Wei-Lei Zhou
, Yong Chen
. Cucurbituril and cyclodextrin co-confinement-based multilevel assembly for single-molecule phosphorescence resonance energy transfer behavior. Chinese Chemical Letters,
2024, 35(12): 110261-.
doi: 10.1016/j.cclet.2024.110261
Figure 1. Energy acceptors used for fabricating sequential LHSs.
Figure 2. Illustration of the self-assembly of pillar[5]arene-based aqueous LHS with two-step FRET. Reproduced with permission [55]. Copyright 2020, Wiley Publishers.
Figure 3. Cartoon representation of the construction of sequential two-step LHS based on WP5, BPT, DBT, and NiR. Reproduced with permission [56]. Copyright 2020, the Royal Society of Chemistry.
Figure 4. Cartoon representation of the construction of a sequential energy-transfer LHS and the chemical structures of WP5, G, ESY and NiR. Reproduced with permission [61]. Copyright 2023, Elsevier Publishers.
Figure 5. Illustration of the GY-doped AOSN and structures of the components including the host H and guests GG and GY. Reproduced with permission [63]. Copyright 2022, the Royal Society of Chemistry.
Figure 6. Schematic representation of self-assembly based on PPTA-CB[7] and the construction of a two-step LHS. Reproduced with permission [64]. Copyright 2022, Elsevier Publishers.
Figure 7. Illustration of the SOF-based LHS constructed from MV-TPE, NA-TPE, and CB[8]. Reproduced with permission [65]. Copyright 2023, the Royal Society of Chemistry.
Figure 8. Representation of the self-assembly of DIm@tQ[14]-based aqueous LHSs. Reproduced with permission [66]. Copyright 2022, Elsevier Publishers.
Figure 9. Illustration of the multivalent supramolecular assemblies based on CB[7] and SC4AD for purely organic RTP-based LHS in aqueous solution. Reproduced with permission [67]. Copyright 2021, Wiley Publishers.
Figure 10. Self-assembly of metallacycle M1 and illustration of the construction of the metallacycle-based LHS. Reproduced with permission [75]. Copyright 2021, American Chemical Society.
Figure 11. Cartoon representation of the macrocycle-based LHS with two-step sequential energy transfer. Reproduced with permission [79]. Copyright 2022, Wiley Publishers.
Figure 12. Cartoon representation of the supramolecular copolymerization of 1, 2, and 3 with sequential energy transfer behavior. Reproduced with permission [82]. Copyright 2022, Nature Publishing Group.
Figure 13. (a) Schematic illustration of the fabrication of the LHS with sequential energy transfer process and the control of the "On/Off" state of the FRET Process; (b) chemical equation of the C−H phosphorylation reaction between benzothiazole and diphenyl-phosphine. Reproduced with permission [87]. Copyright 2022, American Chemical Society.
Figure 14. (a) and (c) The chemical structures of CG and acceptors. (b) SEM and TEM images (inset) of l-CG nanotube from the hydrogel. (d-f) Co-assembly of ThT, AO, and both ThT/AO with the CG nanotube to show different modes of chirality and energy transfer. Reproduced with permission [88]. Copyright 2019, Wiley Publishers.
Figure 15. Schematic representation of the fabrication of a two-step energy-transfer LHS and the chemical structures of M, DBT, NDI, and the UPy dimer. Reproduced with permission [95]. Copyright 2021, the Royal Society of Chemistry.
Figure 16. (a) Synthesis of hexagonal [3 + 3] macrocycle TPEM and (b) schematic illustration of the process of chiral light-harvesting and full-color CPL. Reproduced with permission [96]. Copyright 2022, American Chemical Society.