Synthesis of conjugated diacetylene, metal-chelating monomers for polymerizable monolayer assemblies

[see structure]. Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of thiols on gold have been used for numerous applications. For protein targeting applications, one successful strategy is to use a metal-chelating SAM. It has also been demonstrated that polymerized SAMs are much more stable than non-polymerized counterparts. We report herein, the synthesis of several polymerizable, metal-chelating thiols capable of complexing luminescent lanthanide ions.