The synthesis of highly active thiophene ring-containing chromophore components for photonic polymers based on a newly designed route

Abstract

2-Aminothiophene derivatives are the key intermediates for the present synthesis. It is known that the synthesis of 2-aminothiophene is troublesome although it is a rather simple heterocycle. In this work, an early report was newly developed as a basis for the efficient synthesis of thiophene-ring-containing chromophore components for photonic polymers. 2-Amino-5-nitrothiophene and 2-amino-3,5-dinitrothiophene were synthesized in excellent yield. After diazotization, the 2-aminothiophene derivatives were directly treated with N-phenyldiethanolamine to afford two-electron push–pull compounds. A similar styryl compound was also prepared. All of these chromophore molecules have further polymerizable hydroxy groups on one end of the molecule. These compounds are currently showing interesting potential in making highly sensitive, nonlinear optical polymeric materials.