Combining Optical Properties with Flexibility in Halogen-Substituted Benzothiazole Crystals

Combining optical properties with flexibility in organic crystals may find promising applications in optical waveguides, flexible optoelectronics, etc. We describe a family of halogen-substituted benzothiazole compounds which grow with an acicular needle morphology based on a slip-stacked supramolecular assembly sustained by a series of noncovalent interactions, including halogen bonds etc. Some of them comply with necessary packing features for elasticity; therefore, bending-relaxation cycles can be repeated several times. As these compounds are fluorescent in nature, the optical properties can be gainfully combined with flexibility toward achieving a new class of crystalline materials for optical waveguides and flexible optoelectronics.