Syntheses and Structures of Novel Heteroarene-Fused Coplanar π-Conjugated Chromophores

We have synthesized a series of novel coplanar chromophores in which heteroarenes, namely, thiophene, benzothiophene, and carbazole, were fused to neighboring phenylene ring(s) through intramolecular annulation via sp3-hybridized carbon atoms bearing two p-tolyl groups as peripheral substituents. The molecular configurations of the π-conjugated backbones were determined by X-ray crystallographic analysis; the heteroarene-fused molecular frameworks of these novel molecules exhibit nearly coplanar conformations.