Organic glass-forming materials: 1,3,5-tris(naphthyl)benzene derivatives.

The organic glass-forming materials 1,3-bis(1-naphthyl)-5-(2-naphthyl)benzene (2) and its partially deuterated analogue, 1,3-bis(1-naphthyl-d(7))-5-(2-naphthyl)benzene (2-d(14)), have been synthesized on a gram scale using Suzuki coupling reactions. Detailed spectroscopic studies afford complete NMR assignments (1H, 2H, 13C) for both compounds. Modest energy barriers for the interconversion of atropisomers (ca.