Structural Characterisation of Novel Poly-aryl Compounds

Abstract

Poly-aryl, also known as polyphenylene compounds are a class of dendrimer, which contain a large number of aromatic rings. They are of interest because they display restricted rotation of their stearically congested aromatic rings. These extended structures have the potential to act as precursors for even larger aromatic systems and have many applications including electronic devices, drug delivery and catalysis.A total of 23 novel poly-aryl compounds have been examined using single crystal X-ray diffraction and a number of structural patterns have emerged. Six of the compounds contain alkynes and it has been observed that their conformation is governed by a combination of conjugation between the alkyne and aryl groups and inter-molecular interactions. In the more extended poly-aryl compounds steric congestion rules out any possibility of conjugation between the rings and their conformation is governed by intra-molecular non-bonded interactions in the core of the molecules and by inter-molecular interactions in their periphery.Where possible, solution NMR measurements were carried out on the poly-aryl compounds and confirmed that the solution structures are in agreement with those obtained from individual crystal.

Date of Award	1 Aug 2016
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	The University of Manchester
Supervisor	Robin Pritchard (Supervisor) & John Gardiner (Supervisor)