Multidisciplinary research on novel organic luminescent dyes is propelled by potential applications in plastic electronics and biomedical sciences. The construction of sophisticated fluorescent dyes around a tetrahedral boron(III) center is a particular approach that has fueled the creativity of chemists. Success in this enterprise has been readily achieved with simple synthetic protocols, the products of which display unusual spectroscopic behavior. This account is a critical review of recent advances in the field of boron(III) complexes (excluding BODIPYs and acetylacetonate boron complexes) involving species displaying similar coordination features, and we outline their potential development in several disciplines.

Complexation of a large variety of Anils (aniline-imines) with boron(III) precursors provides stable Boranils, some of which have been structurally characterized. Analysis of their optical properties reveals that the fluorescence stems from an intraligand charge transfer (ILCT) state with the best quantum yields reaching 90%. Chemistry on the Boranils allows grafting of photoactive modules acting as energy antennae for borondipyrromethene (Bodipy) and subphtalocyanine (SubPc) fluorophores.

Thin layers of oligomers with thickness between 7 and 9 nm were deposited on flat gold electrode surfaces by electrochemical reduction of diazonium reagents, then a Ti(2 nm)/Au top contact was applied to complete a solid-state molecular junction. The molecular layers investigated included donor molecules with relatively high energy HOMO, molecules with high HOMO-LUMO gaps and acceptor molecules with low energy LUMO and terminal alkyl chain. Using an oligo(bisthienylbenzene) based layer, a molecule whose HOMO energy level in a vacuum is close to the Fermi level of the gold bottom electrode, the devices exhibit robust and highly reproducible rectification ratios above 1000 at low voltage (2.7 V). Higher current is observed when the bottom gold electrode is biased positively. When the molecular layer is based on a molecule with a high HOMO-LUMO gap, i.e., tetrafluorobenzene, no rectification is observed, while the direction of rectification is reversed if the molecular layer consists of naphtalene diimides having low LUMO energy level. Rectification persisted at low temperature (7 K), and was activationless between 7 and 100 K. The results show that rectification is induced by the asymmetric contact but is also directly affected by orbital energies of the molecular layer. A "molecular signature" on transport through layers with thicknesses above those used when direct tunneling dominates is thus clearly observed, and the rectification mechanism is discussed in terms of Fermi level pinning and electronic coupling between molecules and contacts.

Thin layers of viologen-based oligomers with thicknesses between 3 and 14 nm were deposited on gold electrodes by electrochemical reduction of a diazonium salt, and then a Ti/Au top contact was applied to complete a solid-state molecular junction (MJ). MJs show symmetric J- V curves and highly efficient long-range transport, with an attenuation factor as small as 0.25 nm. This is attributed both to the fact that the viologen LUMO energy lies between the energies of the Fermi levels of the two contacts and to strong electronic coupling between molecules and contacts. As a consequence, resonant tunneling is likely to be the dominant transport mechanism within these MJs, but the temperature dependence of the transport properties suggests that activated redox hopping plays a role at high temperature.

A Boranil fluorophore bearing a nitro-phenyl group has been selectively reduced to its anilino form and then successfully converted to amide, imine, urea, and thiourea derivatives which are fluorescent dyes. Its isolated isothiocyanate intermediate derivative was used in a model labeling experiment with Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA). The purified labeled-BSA exhibits strong luminescence (Φ(f) = 47%) in a phosphate buffer at pH = 7.4.

Thin layers of diarylethene oligomers (oligo­(DAE)) were deposited by electrochemical reduction of a diazonium salt on glassy carbon and gold electrodes. The layers were fully characterized using electrochemistry, XPS, and AFM, and switching between open and closed forms using light was evidenced. Solid-state molecular junctions (MJs), in which a C-AFM tip is used as the top contact, were fabricated with total layer thicknesses fixed at 2–3 nm and 8–9 nm, i.e. below and above the direct tunneling limit. DAE was then photoswitched between its open and closed forms. Oligo­(DAE) MJs using the open form of DAE are highly resistive while those with DAE in the closed form are more conductive. ON/OFF ratios of 2–3 and 200–400 were obtained for 3-nm- and 9-nm-thick DAE MJs, respectively.

Complexation of boron trifluoride by a series of electron donor/acceptor substituted 2-(2'-hydroxy phenyl)benzoxazole (HBO) derivatives yields luminescent B(III) complexes with an emission wavelength ranging from 385 to 425 nm in dichloromethane or toluene. Appropriate chemical functionalization of these new dyes allows connection to different photoactive subunits (Boranil, BODIPY), endowing an efficient cascade energy transfer.

A series of thirteen luminescent tetrahedral borate complexes based on the 2-(2'-hydroxyphenyl)benzoxazole (HBO) core is presented. Their synthesis includes the incorporation of an ethynyl fragment by Sonogashira cross-coupling reaction, with the goal of extending the conjugation and consequently redshifting their emission wavelength. Different regioisomers, substituted in the 3-, 4-, or 5-position of the phenolate side of the HBO core, were studied in order to compare their photophysical properties. The complexes were characterized by X-ray diffraction and NMR, UV/Vis, and emission spectroscopy in solution and in the solid state. In all cases, complexation to boron leads to a donor-acceptor character that impacts their photophysical properties. Complexes with a 3- or 5-substituted fragment display mild to pronounced internal charge transfer (ICT), a feature strengthened by the presence of p-dibutylaminophenylacetylene in the molecular structure, protonation of the nitrogen atom of which leads to a significant blueshift and an increase in quantum yield. On the contrary, when the ethynyl module is grafted on the 4-position, narrow, structured, symmetrical absorption/emission bands are observed. Moreover, the fact that protonation has little effect on the emission maximum wavelength reveals singlet excited-state decay. Solid-state emission properties reveal a redshift compared to solution, explained by tight packing of the π-conjugated systems and the high planarity of the dyes. Subsequent connection of these complexes to other photoactive subunits (BODIPY, Boranil) provides dyads in which efficient cascade energy transfer is observed.