Copper-Catalyzed Cascade C–H Activation of 10-(Pyridin-2-yl)-10 H -Phenothiazines: Access to Organic Difluoroboron Luminescent Materials

Abstract Organic difluoroboron (BF2) complexes exhibit appealing luminescence properties and have found broad applications in diverse fields. Nevertheless, examples of such complexes featuring anti-Kasha dual-emission, room-temperature phosphorescence, and piezochromic behavior remain very scarce. Furthermore, conventional synthetic routes generally require multi-step synthetic procedures. Herein, we have efficiently and rapidly constructed a series of phenothiazine-derived BF2 complexes via copper-catalyzed cascade C–H activation/acyloxylation. In addition, we report, for the first time, organic difluoroboron complexes that integrate triple functionalities: anti-Kasha dual-emission, room-temperature phosphorescence, and piezochromic behavior.