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

A conceptually novel approach for a stepwise one-pot synthesis of oligomeric poly(phenylvinylene) (PPV, -[C6H4-CH=CH]-) analogs with extended pi-conjugation of the type H-[CH=C(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-[CH=C(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.