Unsymmetrical and C3-Symmetrical Partially Fluorinated Hexaarylbenzenes: Effect of Terminal Alkoxy Chain Length on Photophysical and Thermophysical Behavior

Solution-state photoluminescence (PL) is affected by the electronic state; however, solid-state PL varies widely depending on the aggregated state. Although the synthesis and photophysical properties of unsymmetrical and C-3-symmetrical hexaarylbenzenes (HABs) have been reported, the influence of their terminal alkoxy chains on their physical properties remains unclear. Therefore, we synthesized a series of unsymmetrical and C-3-symmetrical partially fluorinated HABs with different alkoxy chains and investigated the effects of alkoxy chain length on the thermophysical and photophysical properties. While investigating phase transition behavior, the ethoxy-substituted unsymmetrical derivative revealed a columnar liquid-crystalline phase, whereas the other derivatives only exhibited a phase transition between crystalline and isotropic phases. While evaluating PL behavior, both the unsymmetrical and C-3-symmetrical analogs exhibited relatively strong blue PL, independent of the alkoxy chain length. Through-space pi-conjugation caused the PL spectra of C-3-symmetrical derivatives to redshift compared to those of unsymmetrical derivatives. Partially fluorinated HABs exhibited relatively strong fluorescence, even in the crystalline state, depending on the alkoxy chain length, owing to the formation of various aggregated structures. Crystalline fluorinated HABs exhibited photochromism, resulting in the appearance of long-wavelength PL bands when exposed to ultraviolet (UV) irradiation, making them promising candidates for PL sensing materials for UV detection.