Two-dimensional electronic conjugation: Statics and dynamics at structural domains beyond molecular wires

Chemical architectures supporting a high degree of electronic conjugation serve as important functional components in devices and materials for advanced electronic and photonic applications. Increasing the spatial dimensionality of such constructs can fundamentally modify their optoelectronic properties and significantly alter intra- and intermolecular interactions that are crucial for understanding and controlling charge/energy-transfer processes. In this article, emerging design principles in the construction of well-defined conjugated platforms beyond molecular wires are highlighted. Both covalent and noncovalent approaches can be strategically employed to position one-dimensional (1D) substructures in a spatially well-defined manner in order to enhance both structural and functional complexity in a two-dimensional (2D) setting. A predictable and controllable switching mechanism can be designed and implemented with mobile 2D electronic conjugation that operates by correlated motions of inherently rigid ID subunits. This emerging "dynamic" approach complements and challenges the prevailing "static" paradigm of conjugated chemical architectures.