Electrochemistry and electrogenerated chemiluminescence of dithienylbenzothiadiazole derivative. Differential reactivity of donor and acceptor groups and simulations of radical cation-anion and dication-radical anion annihilations.

We report here the electrochemistry and electrogenerated chemiluminescence (ECL) of a red-emitting dithienylbenzothiadiazole-based molecular fluorophore (4,7-bis(4-(4-sec-butoxyphenyl)-5-(3,5-di(1-naphthyl)phenyl)thiophen-2-yl)-2,1,3-benzothiadiazole, 1b). 1b contains two substituted thiophene groups as strong electron donors at the ends connected directly to a strong electron acceptor, 2,1,3-benzothiadiazole, in the center. Each thiophene moiety is substituted in position 2 by 3,5-di(1-naphthyl)phenyl and in position 3 by 4-sec-butoxyphenyl. Cyclic voltammetry of 1b, with scan rate ranging from 0.05 to 0.75 V/s, shows a single one-electron reduction wave (E°(red) = -1.18 V vs SCE) and two nernstian one-electron oxidation waves (E°(1,ox) = 1.01 V, E°(2,ox) = 1.24 V vs SCE). Reduction of the unsubstituted 2,1,3-benzothiadiazole center shows nernstian behavior with E°(red) = -1.56 V vs SCE. By comparison to a digital simulation, the heterogeneous electron-transfer rate constant for reduction, k(r)° = 1.5 × 10(-3) cm/s, is significantly smaller than those for the oxidations, k(o)° > 0.1 cm/s, possibly indicating that the two substituted end groups have a blocking effect on the reduction of the benzothiadiazole center. The ECL spectrum, produced by electron-transfer annihilation of the reduced and oxidized forms, consists of a single peak with maximum emission at about 635 nm, consistent with the fluorescence of the parent molecule. Relative ECL intensities with respect to 9,10-diphenylanthracene are 330% and 470% for the radical anion-cation and radical anion-dication annihilation, respectively. Radical anion (A(-•))-cation (A(+•)) annihilation produced by potential steps shows symmetric ECL transients during anodic and cathodic pulses, while for anion (A(-•))-dication (A(2+•)) annihilation, transient ECL shows asymmetry in which the anodic pulse is narrower than the cathodic pulse. Digital simulation of the transient ECL experiments showed that the origin of the observed asymmetry is asymmetry in the amount of generated charges rather than instability of the electrogenerated species.