| Abstract: | 1-3,5-Bis(N,N-dimethylamino)phenoxy]-ω-(2,4,6-tricyanophenylthio)alkanes ( 1a–c ), where an electron-accepting 2,4,6-tricyanophenylthio group and an electron-donating 3,5-bis(N,N-dimethylamino)phenoxy one are linked with a spacer such as ethylene, trimethylene, and tetramethylene, were prepared in order to examine an effect of the spacer chain length on intramolecular charge–transfer interaction between the 2,4,6-tricyanophenylthio and 3,5-bis(N,N-dimethylamino)phenoxy groups. From the UV-vis spectra measurements of 1a–c , 1-3,5-bis(N,N-dimethylamino)phenoxy]-3-(2,4,6-tricyanophenylthio)Propane ( 1b ) carrying the trimethylene chain as a spacer was found to have the strongest intramolecular charge–transfer interaction. A new methacrylate-type monomer carrying the 1b unit as a side chain, 1-(2,4,6-tricyanophenylthio)-3-3,5-bis(N,N-dimethylamino)phenoxy]-2-propyl methacrylate ( 2 ), was prepared successfully in 9.2% total yield in seven steps. The monomer 2 homopolymerized in benzene, tetrahydrofuran, acetone, and dimethyl sulfoxide in the presence of 2,2′-azobis(isobutyronitrile) at 60°C to give polymers poly( 2 )] with molecular weights of 6,000 to 98,000. An intramolecular charge–transfer interaction in the poly( 2 ) was found to be larger than that in the monomer 2 and to increase with an increase in the degree of polymerization of the poly( 2 ), suggesting that there is an existence of polymer effect other than the polymer effect due to the high local concentration of the donor-acceptor pair. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. |
