Design and synthesis of donor-acceptor based Aza-BODIPY derivatives

Abstract

Here, we have designed and synthesised aza-BODIPY dyes 6a and 6b by BF2 complexation using boron trifluoride diethyl etherate (BF3.OEt2) respectively. The aza-boron dipyrromethene (aza-BODIPY) is a class of BODIPY dyes that contain heteroatoms with a nitrogen atom at meso position instead of carbon, displays strong electron accepting nature with near infrared (NIR) absorption, low band gap and low lying LUMO levels. Aza-BODIPY has shown great potential for photothermal therapy (PTT) in organic photosensitizers due to excellent NIR absorption and photothermal conversion efficiency. The photophysical and electrochemical properties as well as their density functional theory (DFT) studies were explored which shows good donor–acceptor interaction and successful tuning of the HOMO LUMO gap. Aza-BODIPY shows various applications in organic photovoltaics, photodynamic cancer therapy, photothermal properties, organic field-effect transistor (OFET) and organic light emitting diode (OLED).