Donor/Acceptor-Substituted Tetraethynylethenes: Systematic Assembly of Molecules for Use as Advanced Materials

A comprehensive series of tetraethynylethenes (= 3,4‐diethynylhex‐3‐ene‐1,5‐diynes, TEEs) bearing electrondonating (p‐methoxyphenyl or p‐aminophenyl) and/or electron‐accepting (p‐nitrophenyl) groups was prepared via [Pd]‐catalyzed Sonogashira cross‐coupling reactions. The electronic and photonic properties of these molecules were investigated with a special emphasis on the effects caused by degree and pattern of donor/acceptor substitution around the central TEE core. This analysis showed that intramolecular donor‐acceptor interactions, as evidenced by a long‐wavelength charge‐transfer band, are considerably more effective in TEEs 44 and 46, with trans and cis, linearly‐conjugated electronic pathways between donor and acceptor, than in 11, with a geminal, cross‐conjugated electronic pathway. UV/VIS Spectroscopy revealed a steady bathochromic shift of the longest‐wavelength absorption band (λmax) as the number of donor‐acceptor conjugation paths increased upon changing from bis‐arylated (11, 44, and 46) to tetrakis‐arylated (14, 31, and 35) TEEs. The position of the longest‐wavelength absorption was also found to be strongly dependent on the nature of the N‐substituents in the R2NC6H4‐donor groups. Electronic emission spectroscopic investigations demonstrated a considerable solvent dependency of the fluorescence of donor‐acceptor‐substituted TEEs such as 11 or 44, in agreement with the presence of highly polarized excited states in these molecules. Correspondingly, fluorescence spectra of TEEs bearing only donor or acceptor substituents showed little solvent dependency. The large majority of the donor/acceptor‐substituted TEEs are thermally and environmentally stable molecules. They can be stored for months as solids in the air at room temperature, and many decompose only upon heating to temperatures above 200°. X‐Ray analysis showed the conjugated C‐atom scaffolds of 44, 46, and 67 to be essentially planar, whereas the aryl substituents in 28 and 30 are rotated out of the plane of the TEE core by varying degrees.