Dicyanovinyl-Substituted Oligothiophenes

Abstract

A series of three dicyanovinyl (DCV)-substituted oligothiophenes (referred to collectively as DCV-nT-DCV, where n = 1−3) were prepared and their electrochemical and structural properties were examined. The introduction of this group results in favorable structural features: planarity, π-stack formation, and close intermolecular interactions as revealed from X-ray single crystal analysis. Electrochemical measurements suggest that these molecules are easy to both oxidize and reduce and thus are expected to show ambipolar charge transport properties similar to those we reported earlier on a closely related series of oligthiophenes endowed with the tricyanovinyl group (TCV).