We have covered our ultra efficient blue emitting {B 18 with methyl groups to give a fluorophore that has superior solubility and absorption characteristics Plus, it’s a beautiful molecule! We find that attaching methyl groups to the periphery of the molecule causes the 18 vertex borane cluster to literally swell We propose this “swollen polyhedral volume” to be the result of a marked increase in the relative positivity of the “cluster only total charge” of the boron atomic skeleton caused by the combined electron withdrawing capacity of the 12 methyl groups Enhancement in the absorption and solubility properties may be crucial in the design of new borane based laser materials
Michael G. S. Londesborough **, Kamil Lang, William Clegg Paul Waddell and Jonathan Bould *, Inorg . Chem 2020 , 59 , 5 , 2651 2654