One-pot synthesis of oligomeric aryl-substituted PPV analogs with extended π-conjugation

Abstract

A conceptually novel approach for a stepwise one-pot synthesis of oligomeric poly(phenylvinylene) (PPV, –[C₆H₄–CHCH]–) analogs with extended π-conjugation of the type H–[CHC(Ar)–C₆H₄–C(Ar)CH]_n–H (n = 2, 4), from the corresponding dienic monomers (n = 1), has been studied. The oligomerizations were performed in high yields by repeating the sequential preparation of the mercuric trifluoroacetate derivative H–[CHC(Ar)–C₆H₄–C(Ar)CH]_n–HgCO₂CF₃ (n = 1, 2) and its coupling in the presence of PdCl₂. The feasibility of this approach was demonstrated by a one-pot preparation of several tetramers, directly from the corresponding monomers.