Synthesis of ferrocenyl-bearing dendrimers with a resorcinarene core

A series of ferrocenyl ended dendrons containing π-conjugated systems were obtained using Wittig and Heck reactions. The dendrons were attached to eight functionalized resorcinarenes via Williamson reaction obtaining high molecular weight dendrimers. No electronic communication between metal centers was observed by cyclic voltammetry. All the dendrimers were characterized by 1H, 13C NMR, FTIR, UV–Vis, MALDI-TOF, elemental analyses, and electrochemical studies.