Stępień Lab In pictures
Journal covers and highlighted artwork connected to lab publications.
The fluorescent “molecular squid,” a strained molecular nanocarbon receptor derived from calix[4]arene, binds neutral and cationic guest molecules in solution. In the solid state, it forms stable inclusion complexes and displays porosity toward gases and vapors.
Efficient energy and electron transfer in photoexcited dye assemblies is central to biological and artificial light-harvesting systems. The highlighted work demonstrates Förster-type transfer in multichromophore cassettes containing four BODIPY units linked to a pseudo-tetrahedral acceptor dye combining fused porphyrin and perylene diimide motifs.
Stereospecific synthesis of azacoronene propellers requires a brominating oxidant such as N-bromosuccinimide or Br₂; other oxidants do not produce the same outcome. These chiral chromophores combine small electronic band gaps with rich redox chemistry and strong chiroptical responses.
This review surveys advances in the chemistry of curved aromatic molecules, focusing on synthetic methods that efficiently introduce strain into π-conjugated frameworks and on the structural diversity enabled by modern methodology.
Chrysaorenes and their macrocyclic precursors do not usually swarm across laboratory floors. Nevertheless, it may be wise to read the paper before such an encounter.
Deep, fluorescent aromatic bowls resembling carbon nanotube end caps are formed in one step from simple heterocyclic precursors through Ni(0)-mediated synchronized homocoupling. The process introduces substantial strain by coordinating transmetalation and reductive elimination within multinuclear metallacycles.
Chrysaorole, a strained, jellyfish-shaped heteroaromatic molecule, was synthesized from a carbazole-based macrocyclic precursor using the fold-in strategy. Its name refers to Chrysaora, a genus of jellyfish.
The image depicts host–guest binding between the figure-eight dication of di-p-benzihexaphyrin and a dichloroacetate anion, illustrating one of the motifs discussed in the review.
Two complementary modes of cyclic π conjugation meet in one molecule. Di-p-benzihexaphyrin can switch between an antiaromatic Hückel topology and an edge-to-face Möbius conformer, with the accompanying color changes revealing how topology controls π conjugation.
The two inner protons of 22-hydroxybenziporphyrin, a phenol-containing porphyrin analogue, act as an antiaromaticity switch through keto–phenol tautomerization, which interconverts [6]- and [20]annulenoid conjugation pathways.