A versatile, two-step synthesis of highly substituted, cyano-functionalized diaryltetracenes has been developed, starting from easily accessible tetraaryl[3]cumulenes. This unprecedented transformation is initiated by [2+2] cycloaddition of tetracyanoethylene (TCNE) to the proacetylenic central double bond of the cumulenes to give an intermediate zwitterion, which after an electrocyclization cascade and dehydrogenation yields 5,5,11,11-tetracyano-5,11-dihydrotetracenes in a one-pot procedure. A subsequent copper-assisted decyanation/aromatization provided the target 5,11-dicyano-6,12-diaryltetracene derivatives. All of the postulated structures were confirmed by X-ray crystallography. The new chromophores are thermally highly stable and feature promising fluorescence properties for potential use in optoelectronic devices. They are selective chemosensors for Cu(I) ions, which coordinate to one of the CN substituents and form a 1:1 complex with an association constant of Ka =1.5×10(5)  L mol(-1) at 298 K.

A convergent, multistep protocol was employed for the synthesis of a Janus-type multivalent donor-acceptor system. The synthetic approach is based on a Sonogashira cross-coupling of two differently ferrocene-(Fc) substituted dendrons and a final sixfold [2 + 2] cycloaddition-retroelectrocyclization (CA-RE) reaction with tetracyanoethene, which occurs regioselectively at only one of the rigidly linked dendrons. The structural and optoelectronic properties of the compounds were investigated by X-ray analysis, UV/vis spectroscopy, and electrochemistry. The target Janus-system displays redox-amphoteric behavior. The nonalkynylated Fc end groups in one dendron are readily and reversibly oxidized. The second dendron, in which the terminal Fc-activated alkynes underwent the CA-RE reaction to give tetracyanobuta-1,3-dienes in the final step of the synthesis, undergoes four reversible 3-e(-) reductions in the very narrow potential range of 1 V. A spontaneous intramolecular charge transfer from the donor into the acceptor hemisphere was not observed. Furthermore, the oxidation potential of the Fc donors in one hemisphere is hardly perturbed by the push-pull acceptors in the other, which suggests that electronic communication along the π-system, with several meta-connectivities, is not efficient. Therefore, the charge-transfer bands seen in the Janus-type system originate from the interaction of the Fc donors with the directly connected tetracyanobuta-1,3-diene acceptors in the same hemisphere.

The design and synthesis of Aviram-Ratner-type molecular rectifiers, featuring an anilino-substituted extended tetracyanoquinodimethane (exTCNQ) acceptor, covalently linked by the σ-spacer bicyclo[2.2.2]octane (BCO) to a tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) donor moiety, are described. The rigid BCO spacer keeps the TTF donor and exTCNQ acceptor moieties apart, as demonstrated by X-ray analysis. The photophysical properties of the TTF-BCO-exTCNQ dyads were investigated by UV/Vis and EPR spectroscopy, electrochemical studies, and theoretical calculations. Langmuir-Blodgett films were prepared and used in the fabrication and electrical studies of junction devices. One dyad showed the asymmetric current-voltage (I-V) curve characteristic for rectification, unlike control compounds containing the TTF unit but not the exTCNQ moiety or comprising the exTCNQ acceptor moiety but lacking the donor TTF part, which both gave symmetric I-V curves. The direction of the observed rectification indicated that the preferred electron current flows from the exTCNQ acceptor to the TTF donor.

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