Zwitterionic Bergman cyclization triggered polymerization gives access to metal-graphene nanoribbons using a boron metal couple.

With the rapid growth in artificial intelligence, designing high-speed and low-power semiconducting materials is of utmost importance. This investigation provides a theoretical basis to access covalently bonded transition metal-graphene nanoribbon (TM-GNR) hybrid semiconductors whose DFT-computed bandgaps were much narrower than the commonly used pentacene. Systematic optimization of substrates containing remotely placed boryl groups and the transition metals produced the zwitterions via ionic Bergman cyclization (i-BC) and unlocked the polymerization of metal-substituted polyenynes. Aside from i-BC, the subsequent steps were barrierless, which involved structureless transition regions. Multivariate analysis revealed the strong dependence of activation energy and the cyclization mode on the electronic nature of boron and Au(I). Consequently, three regions corresponding to radical Bergman (r-BC), ionic Bergman (i-BC), and ionic Schreiner-Pascal (i-SP) cyclizations were identified. The boundaries between these regions corresponded to the mechanistic shift induced by the three-center-three-electron (3c-3e) hydrogen bond, three-center-four-electron (3c-4e) hydrogen bond, and vacant p-orbital on boron. The ideal combination for cascade polymerization was observed near the boundary between i-BC and i-SP.