Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxyselenophene).

The first highly conductive polyselenophene, namely, poly(3,4-ethylenedioxyselenophene) (PEDOS), was synthesized by taking advantage of a novel method for efficiently contracting the selenophene ring. PEDOS shows a relatively low band gap (1.4 eV), very high stability in the oxidized state, and a well-defined spectroelectrochemistry.

Conducting polyfurans by electropolymerization of oligofurans.

Polyfurans have never been established as useful conjugated polymers, as previously they were considered to be inherently unstable and poorly conductive. Here, we show the preparation of stable and conducting polyfuran films by electropolymerization of a series of oligofurans of different chain lengths substituted with alkyl groups. The polyfuran films show good conductivity in the order of 1 S cm-1, good environmental and electrochemical stabilities, very smooth morphologies (roughness 1-5 nm), long effective conjugation lengths, well-defined spectroelectrochemistry and electro-optical switching (in the Vis-NIR region), and have optical band-gaps in the range of 2.2-2.3 eV. A low oxidation potential needed for polymerization of oligofurans (compared to furan) is a key factor in achievement of improved properties of polyfurans reported in this work. DFT calculations and experiments show that polyfurans are much more rigid than polythiophenes, and alkyl substitution does not disturb backbone planarity and conjugation. The obtained properties of polyfuran films are similar or superior to the properties of electrochemically prepared poly(oligothiophene)s under similar conditions.

Controlling Pt nanoparticle formation through Se···Pt interactions on the electrode surface.

We show that interactions between the electrode surface and the transition metal during the initial step of metal nanoparticle formation can be utilized to control the formation and size of metal nanoparticles deposited on a conducting surface. Pt nanoparticles formed on the PEDOS surface are of smaller size compared to the PEDOT surface.

α-Oligofurans show a sizeable extent of π-conjugation as probed by Raman spectroscopy.

A Raman spectroscopic analysis revealed that π-conjugation does not reach saturation at least up to the octamer in long α-oligofurans and spreads over 14-15 furan units in the polyfuran. Comparing DFT calculations with experimental results suggests that a considerable amount of HF exchange is required to reproduce computationally the observed conjugation.

Towards "green" electronic materials. α-Oligofurans as semiconductors.

We report that linear oligomers of furan, which is a biodegradable molecule directly obtainable from biomass, could be used as organic semiconductors and show field effect mobilities similar to those of the corresponding thiophene analogues. Efficient fluorescence and increased solubility of oligofurans and their derivatives are two other important advantages for their application in organic electronics.

Inclusion compounds of 2,5-diphenylhydroquinone.

The crystal structures of three 1:2 inclusion compounds that consist of host molecule 2,5-diphenylhydroquinone (C(18)H(14)O(2)) and the guest molecules 2-pyridone (C(5)H(5)NO), 1,3-diphenyl-2-propen-1-one (chalcone, C(15)H(12)O) and 1-(4-methoxyphenyl)-3-phenyl-2-propen-1-one (4'-methoxychalcone, C(16)H(14)O(2)) were determined in order to study the ability of guest molecules in inclusion compounds to undergo photoreaction. All of the crystals were found to be photoresistant. The three inclusion compounds crystallize in triclinic space group P1. In each case, the host/guest ratio is 1:2, with the host molecules occupying crystallographic centers of symmetry and the guest molecules occupying general positions. The guest molecules in each of the inclusion compounds are linked to the host molecules by hydrogen bonds. In the inclusion compound where the guest molecule is pyridone, the host molecule is disordered so that the hydroxy groups are distributed between two different sites, with occupancies of 0.738 (3) and 0.262 (3). The pyridone molecules form dimers via N-H...O hydrogen bonds.

Different packing in three polymorphs of 2,4,6-trimethoxy-1,3,5-triazine.

2,4,6-trimethoxy-1,3,5-triazine was found to exhibit three different polymorphs. The alpha-polymorph undergoes reversible phase transformation to the beta-polymorph at 340 K with an enthalpy of 3.9 kJ mol(-1). The heat of fusion of the beta-polymorph at 404 K is 18.1 kJ mol(-1). The low-temperature phase (alpha-polymorph) crystallizes in the orthorhombic space group Pnma. The high-temperature phase (beta-polymorph) can be obtained from the melt and crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P2(1). The gamma-polymorph is obtained by crystallization from a 1:1 mixture of methanol and methylenechloride from hydrolyzed 2,4-dimethoxy-6-oxybenzophenone-1,3,5-triazine. The gamma-polymorph melts at 409 K with an enthalpy of 11.4 kJ mol(-1). The gamma-polymorph crystallizes in the trigonal space group R3c. The molecules occupy a crystallographic threefold axis. Molecules of 2,4,6-trimethoxy-1,3,5-triazine are planar in all three polymorphs. The major difference between the three polymorphs is the mode of packing of the molecules in the crystal.