Soluble Ferrocene Conjugates for Incorporation into Self-Assembled Monolayers

Abstract

A series of phenylethynyl oligomers (I-V) possessing a ferrocene and thiol at each termini have been synthesized. These oligomers have been designed to overcome the inherent insolubility of this class of complexes by substitution at the phenyl groups with methyl and propoxy substituents. Several new reactions for preparing arenethiol-protected compounds are described. Interestingly, the generation of an arenethiol anion during base- or fluoride-catalyzed deprotection has been characterized.