Evaluating the Impact of Fluorination on the Electro-optical Properties of Cross-Conjugated Benzobisoxazoles

Six 2,4,6,8-tetrarylbenzo­[1,2-d:4,5-d′]­bisoxazoles (BBOs) were synthesized: three bearing phenyl substituents at the 2- and 6-positions and three bearing perfluorophenyl groups at those positions. The influence of perfluoro-aryl group substitution on the physical, optical, and electronic properties of 2,4,6,8-tetrarylbenzo­[1,2-d:4,5-d′]­bisoxazoles (BBO) was evaluated using both experimental and theoretical methods. The density functional theory (DFT) model was found to be well-matched to the experimental optical data, as evidenced by the UV–vis spectra. Both cyclic voltammetry (CV) and ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) were used to determine the position of the HOMO with varying results. The values obtained by CV were deeper than those obtained via UPS and correlated well with the theoretical calculations. However, the UPS values were more consistent with the expected outcomes for a system with segregated frontier molecular orbitals (FMOs). The UPS results are also supported by the electrostatic potential maps, which indicate that the electron density within the LUMO and HOMO is nearly completely localized along the 2,6- or 4,8-axis, respectively. The summation of the results indicates that strongly electron-withdrawing groups can be used to selectively tune the LUMO level with minor perturbation of the HOMO, something that is challenging to accomplish in typical donor–acceptor systems.