Tetra[2,3-thienylene]: a building block for single-molecule electromechanical actuators.
Tetra(2,3-thienylene) is a thiophene-fused [8]annulene capable of undergoing redox-induced dimensional changes. The feasibility of efficiently translating this intrinsic function into a single polymeric electromechanical actuator is investigated by both experiment and density functional theory (B3LYP 6-31G[d,p]). A study of tetra(2,3-thienylene) and its homodimer reveal that redox-induced conformational change is conserved upon dimerization, a result that implicates similar behavior in the corresponding polymer. Theoretical predictions yield a maximum redox-induced dimensional change of 5.92% per repeat unit for the homodimer. Cyclic voltammetry reveals complete reversibility for the corresponding redox cycle. The latter two facts establish tetra(2,3-thienylene) as a suitable building block for single-molecule electromechanical actuators.
Marsella
Michael J
MJ
Department of Chemistry, University of California at Riverside, Riverside, California 92521-0403, USA. michael.marsella@ucr.edu
Reid
Rodney J
RJ
Estassi
Samia
S
Wang
Li-Sheng
LS