Synthesis of donor-acceptor compounds based on azulene

At present, non-benzenoid aromatic hydrocarbons are widely used as precursors for the synthesis of new materials with useful electronic properties. In particular, the non-alternative aromatic hydrocarbon azulen with a unique dipole structure and a tendency to form stabilized radical ions should be predetermined as a building block for obtaining new π-conjugated systems with interesting optoelectronic properties. This article discusses the directed synthesis and study of optical properties of new donor-acceptor compounds based on azulene. It was shown that for the synthesis of donor-acceptor phenylketone azulenes, the reaction of directed (to positions С1 and С3) acylation with benzoyl chloride in the presence of Li2MnCl4 in tetrahydrofuran was used for the first time as a key step. It was found that push-pull phenyldicyanovinyl azulenes obtained by Knoevenagel condensation of azulenylketones with malononitrile flow easily (with an increase in the yield of end products) in the presence of pyridine in dimethyl sulfoxide. Electron UV-visible spectra of phenyldicyanovinyl azulene compounds showed strong absorption bands in the visible region (λmax = 452 and 434 nm) caused by intense intramolecular charge transfer between the donor azulene ring and the acceptor phenyldicyanovinyl group.