Facile Synthesis of Donor–Acceptor Heterocycloarenes Based on Pyrazine Derivatives Possessing Intriguing Iodide Ion Capture Properties

Donor–acceptor (D–A) conjugated systems have been extensively investigated and play important roles in organic electronics. Incorporating D–A structures into (hetero)cycloarenes endows them tunable electronic properties, while the well-defined cavity remains. However, the synthetic complexity of introducing electron-acceptor moieties into (hetero)cycloarenes limits their development and applications. In this paper, the first family of electronically tunable D–A heterocycloarenes (DAHCn, n = 1–5) based on pyrazine derivatives was facilely synthesized through cyclocondensation reaction from a tetraketone-functionalized heterocycloarene precursor prepared using the ketal-protection strategy. The effect of expanded conjugation and the inserted electron-withdrawing group on the electronic structures of the D–A heterocycloarenes was studied systematically by X-ray crystallographic analysis, various spectroscopic measurements, and theoretical calculations. Interestingly, the presence of an electron-withdrawing group polarizes the inner C(sp2)–H and significantly increases the binding affinities of D–A heterocycloarenes to the iodide anion. Meanwhile, the anion affinity can be further modulated by the type of attached substituents and the distance of polarization. More importantly, the dicyanopyrazine derivative DAHC3 shows the highest binding strength to the iodide ion as a 2:1 sandwich complex (log β2 = 12.3 and ΔG = −69.1 kJ mol–1), which is the strongest iodide receptor using C(sp2)–H hydrogen bonding interactions reported to date. Our finding provides a new strategy to design and synthesize D–A heterocycloarenes and strong anion receptors.