4th Annual WML Academic Symposium

The goal of this project is to synthesize a range of peropyrene derivatives that will be assessed for singlet fission activity, which is useful in electronic materials and solar cells. Peropyrene crystals have not exhibited evidence as a suitable molecule for singlet fission, mainly due to the herringbone packing structure observed in the crystal structure. However, by varying the substituents on the molecule, the packing of the crystal structure can be disrupted and possibly allow singlet fission to occur. The synthesis of the final peropyrene derivative that will be evaluated for singlet fission is a five-step synthesis that starts with 2,7–dihydroxynaphthalene. This project reports the successful synthesis of 2-amino-7-hydroxynaphthalene and the attempted synthesis of 7-hydroxy-2-iodonaphthalene, which are the products of the first two steps.