Issue 18, 2015

New advances in nanographene chemistry

Abstract

Nanographenes, or extended polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, have been attracting renewed and more widespread attention since the first experimental demonstration of graphene in 2004. However, the atomically precise fabrication of nanographenes has thus far been achieved only through synthetic organic chemistry. The precise synthesis of quasi-zero-dimensional nanographenes, i.e. graphene molecules, has witnessed rapid developments over the past few years, and these developments can be summarized in four categories: (1) non-conventional methods, (2) structures incorporating seven- or eight-membered rings, (3) selective heteroatom doping, and (4) direct edge functionalization. On the other hand, one-dimensional extension of the graphene molecules leads to the formation of graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) with high aspect ratios. The synthesis of structurally well-defined GNRs has been achieved by extending nanographene synthesis to longitudinally extended polymeric systems. Access to GNRs thus becomes possible through the solution-mediated or surface-assisted cyclodehydrogenation, or “graphitization,” of tailor-made polyphenylene precursors. In this review, we describe recent progress in the “bottom-up” chemical syntheses of structurally well-defined nanographenes, namely graphene molecules and GNRs.

Graphical abstract: New advances in nanographene chemistry

Article information

Article type
Review Article
Submitted
28 Nah 2015
First published
17 Qad 2015

Chem. Soc. Rev., 2015,44, 6616-6643

Author version available

New advances in nanographene chemistry

A. Narita, X. Wang, X. Feng and K. Müllen, Chem. Soc. Rev., 2015, 44, 6616 DOI: 10.1039/C5CS00183H

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements