New Tetrathiafulvalene-π-Spacer-Acceptor Derivatives: Synthesis, Crystal Structure, Optical and Electrochemical Properties

Abstract

4-[2-tetrathiafulvalenyl-ethenyl]pyridine (1) has been prepared from a Wittig reaction between formyltetrathiafulvalene and 4-picolyltriphenylphosphonium chloride hydrochloride. Conversion of the pyridine moiety of 1 by reaction with methyl iodide leads to 4-[2-tetrathiafulvalenyl-ethenyl]-1-methylpyridinium iodide (2a). Neutralization of 1 with a large excess of L-tartaric acid affords 4-[2-tetrathiafulvalenyl-ethenyl]-1-methylpyridinium hydrogen tartrate (3). These TTF-π-spacer-acceptor compounds have been characterized by elemental analysis, and IR and 1H NMR spectroscopy. The crystal structure of 2a has been determined by X-ray diffraction. The cation is essentially planar. Examination of the bond lengths in 2a, UV/Vis spectra and CV data, and calculations indicate that an intramolecular charge transfer occurs in the studied compounds, although it is rather limited, and larger in 2a and 3 than in 1.