Fluorene , or 9''H''-fluorene is an

organic compound In chemistry, organic compounds are generally any chemical compounds that contain carbon- hydrogen or carbon-carbon bonds. Due to carbon's ability to catenate (form chains with other carbon atoms), millions of organic compounds are known. Th ...

with the formula (C₆H₄)₂CH₂. It forms white crystals that exhibit a characteristic, aromatic odor similar to that of

naphthalene Naphthalene is an organic compound with formula . It is the simplest polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, and is a white crystalline solid with a characteristic odor that is detectable at concentrations as low as 0.08 ppm by mass. As an aromat ...

. It has a violet

fluorescence Fluorescence is the emission of light by a substance that has absorbed light or other electromagnetic radiation. It is a form of luminescence. In most cases, the emitted light has a longer wavelength, and therefore a lower photon energy, ...

, hence its name. For commercial purposes it is obtained from

coal tar Coal tar is a thick dark liquid which is a by-product of the production of coke and coal gas from coal. It is a type of creosote. It has both medical and industrial uses. Medicinally it is a topical medication applied to skin to treat psoria ...

. It is insoluble in water and soluble in many organic solvents. Although sometimes classified as a

polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon A polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) is a class of organic compounds that is composed of multiple aromatic rings. The simplest representative is naphthalene, having two aromatic rings and the three-ring compounds anthracene and phenanthrene. ...

, the five-membered ring has no aromatic properties. Fluorene is mildly acidic.

Synthesis, structure, and reactivity

Although fluorene is obtained from coal tar, it can also be prepared by dehydrogenation of diphenylmethane. Alternatively, it can be prepared by the reduction of fluorenone with

zinc Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodic t ...

or hypophosphorous acid–

iodine Iodine is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol I and atomic number 53. The heaviest of the stable halogens, it exists as a semi-lustrous, non-metallic solid at standard conditions that melts to form a deep violet liquid at , ...

. The fluorene molecule is nearly planar,D. M. Burns, John Iball (1954), ''Molecular Structure of Fluorene'' Nature volume 173, p. 635. although each of the two benzene rings is coplanar with the central carbon 9. Fluorene can be found after the

incomplete combustion Combustion, or burning, is a high-temperature exothermic redox chemical reaction between a fuel (the reductant) and an oxidant, usually atmospheric oxygen, that produces oxidized, often gaseous products, in a mixture termed as smoke. Combu ...

plastics Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adaptab ...

such as PS, PE and PVC.

Acidity

The C9-H sites of the fluorene ring are weakly acidic ( pK_a = 22.6 in

DMSO Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) is an organosulfur compound with the formula ( CH3)2. This colorless liquid is the sulfoxide most widely used commercially. It is an important polar aprotic solvent that dissolves both polar and nonpolar compounds a ...

.) Deprotonation gives the stable fluorenyl anion, nominally C₁₃H₉⁻, which is

aromatic In chemistry, aromaticity is a chemical property of cyclic (ring-shaped), ''typically'' planar (flat) molecular structures with pi bonds in resonance (those containing delocalized electrons) that gives increased stability compared to sat ...

and has an intense orange colour. The anion is a

nucleophile In chemistry, a nucleophile is a chemical species that forms bonds by donating an electron pair. All molecules and ions with a free pair of electrons or at least one pi bond can act as nucleophiles. Because nucleophiles donate electrons, they a ...

Electrophile In chemistry, an electrophile is a chemical species that forms bonds with nucleophiles by accepting an electron pair. Because electrophiles accept electrons, they are Lewis acids. Most electrophiles are positively charged, have an atom that ca ...

s react with it by adding to the 9-position. The purification of fluorene exploits its acidity and the low solubility of its sodium derivative in hydrocarbon solvents. Both protons can be removed from C9. For example, 9,9-fluorenyldipotassium can be obtained by treating fluorene with

potassium Potassium is the chemical element with the symbol K (from Neo-Latin '' kalium'') and atomic number19. Potassium is a silvery-white metal that is soft enough to be cut with a knife with little force. Potassium metal reacts rapidly with atmosp ...

metal in boiling

dioxane 1,4-Dioxane () is a heterocyclic organic compound, classified as an ether. It is a colorless liquid with a faint sweet odor similar to that of diethyl ether. The compound is often called simply dioxane because the other dioxane isomers ( 1,2- ...

Ligand properties

Fluorene and its derivatives can be deprotonated to give

ligand In coordination chemistry, a ligand is an ion or molecule ( functional group) that binds to a central metal atom to form a coordination complex. The bonding with the metal generally involves formal donation of one or more of the ligand's ele ...

s akin to cyclopentadienide. Syndiotactic-zirconocene-front-3D-balls

Uses

Fluorene is a precursor to other fluorene compounds; the parent species has few applications. Fluorene-9-carboxylic acid is a precursor to pharmaceuticals. Oxidation of fluorene gives fluorenone, which is nitrated to give commercially useful derivatives. 9-Fluorenylmethyl chloroformate (Fmoc chloride) is used to introduce the 9-fluorenylmethyl carbamate (Fmoc)

protecting group A protecting group or protective group is introduced into a molecule by chemical modification of a functional group to obtain chemoselectivity in a subsequent chemical reaction. It plays an important role in multistep organic synthesis. In man ...

on amines in

peptide synthesis In organic chemistry, peptide synthesis is the production of peptides, compounds where multiple amino acids are linked via amide bonds, also known as peptide bonds. Peptides are chemically synthesized by the condensation reaction of the carboxy ...

. Polyfluorene polymers (where carbon 7 of one unit is linked to carbon 2 of the next one, displacing two hydrogens) are

electrically conductive Electrical resistivity (also called specific electrical resistance or volume resistivity) is a fundamental property of a material that measures how strongly it resists electric current. A low resistivity indicates a material that readily allows ...

and

electroluminescent Electroluminescence (EL) is an optical and electrical phenomenon, in which a material emits light in response to the passage of an electric current or to a strong electric field. This is distinct from black body light emission resulting fro ...

, and have been much investigated as a luminophore in

organic light-emitting diode An organic light-emitting diode (OLED or organic LED), also known as organic electroluminescent (organic EL) diode, is a light-emitting diode (LED) in which the emissive electroluminescent layer is a film of organic compound that emits light ...

Fluorene dyes

Fluorene dyes are well developed. Most are prepared by condensation of the active methylene group with carbonyls. 2-Aminofluorene, 3,6-bis-(dimethylamino)fluorene, and 2,7-diiodofluorene are precursors to dyes.

References

External links

Fluorene
in the National Institute of Standards and Technology database. {{PAHs Molecular electronics Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons