New planar and soluble tris-tetrathiafulvalene derivatives with threefold-symmetry

Novel trimeric tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) derivatives with threefold-symmetry are built on the 1,3,5-benzene core. Long alkyl chains have been incorporated on the peripheral positions of the TTF moieties in order to increase the solubility of the final products. Electrochemical and spectroscopic studies of the target compounds suggest that there are no significant interactions between the TTF units because of their meta orientation. Semiempirical theoretical calculations indicate that the new systems exhibit a high structural anisotropy resembling that exhibited by discotic liquid crystals.