A Versatile Palladium-Catalyzed Synthesis of n-Alkyl-Substituted Oligo-p-phenyls

Abstract

High-yield Pd-catalyzed syntheses of constitutionally homogeneous, n-alkyl-substituted oligo-p-phenyls having three to fifteen benzene rings connected to each other exclusively in the 1,4-(para-) fashion are reported. Most of the oligomers described readily dissolve in common organic solvents. Furthermore, their thermal phase-transition temperatures show that some of these rodlike oligomers can exist in different crystalline modifications and/or form liquid-crystalline mesophases.