Benzo[1,2-d:4,5-d']bis([1,2,3]thiadiazole) (isoBBT) is a new electron-withdrawing building block that can be used to obtain potentially interesting compounds for the synthesis of OLEDs and organic solar cells components. The electronic structure and delocalization in benzo[1,2-d:4,5-d']bis([1,2,3]thiadiazole), 4-bromobenzo[1,2-d:4,5-d']bis([1,2,3]thiadiazole), and 4,8-dibromobenzo[1,2-d:4,5-d']bis([1,2,3]thiadiazole) were studied using X-ray diffraction analysis and ab initio calculations by EDDB and GIMIC methods and were compared to the corresponding properties of benzo[1,2-c:4,5-c']bis[1,2,5]thiadiazole (BBT). Calculations at a high level of theory showed that the electron affinity, which determines electron deficiency, of isoBBT was significantly smaller than that of BBT (1.09 vs. 1.90 eV). Incorporation of bromine atoms improves the electrical deficiency of bromobenzo-bis-thiadiazoles nearly without affecting aromaticity, which increases the reactivity of these compounds in aromatic nucleophilic substitution reactions and, on the other hand, does not reduce the ability to undergo cross-coupling reactions. 4-Bromobenzo[1,2-d:4,5-d']bis([1,2,3]thiadiazole) is an attractive object for the synthesis of monosubstituted isoBBT compounds. The goal to find conditions for the selective substitution of hydrogen or bromine atoms at position 4 in order to obtain compounds containing a (het)aryl group in this position and to use the remaining unsubstituted hydrogen or bromine atoms to obtain unsymmetrically substituted isoBBT derivatives, potentially interesting compounds for organic photovoltaic components, was not set before. Nucleophilic aromatic and cross-coupling reactions, along with palladium-catalyzed C-H direct arylation reactions for 4-bromobenzo[1,2-d:4,5-d']bis([1,2,3]thiadiazole), were studied and selective conditions for the synthesis of monoarylated derivatives were found. The observed features of the structure and reactivity of isoBBT derivatives may be useful for building organic semiconductor-based devices.
Keywords: 4-bromobenzo[1,2-d:4,5-d′]bis([1,2,3]thiadiazole); EDDB and GIMIC methods; Suzuki and Stille cross-coupling reactions; UV-Vis spectra; X-ray analysis; ab initio calculations; aromatic nucleophilic substitution; direct (het)arylation palladium-catalyzed reactions; sulfur-nitrogen heterocycles.