1,4-Dithiafulvene-substituted ferrocenes and their conversion into extended tetrathiafulvalene electron donors: synthetic, electrochemical and X-ray structural studies

The synthesis of 1,4-dithiafulvene-substituted ferrocene derivatives 7, 11 and 12 by reaction of formyl-, diformyl- and diacetyl-ferrocene, respectively, with the carbanion generated from reagents 4a-c and the ylide prepared from reagent 5 is reported, Upon reaction with HCl-diethyl ether, compounds 7a-c undergo an oxidative dimerisation to yield extended tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) derivatives 8a-c, The solution electrochemistry of compounds 7, 8, 11, 12, 14 and 16 has been studied by cyclic voltammetry, The X-ray crystal structures of compounds 8b and 12a are presented