Three-dimensional supramolecular polymers driven by rigid tetrahedral building blocks through tetrathiafulvalene radical cation dimerization

Rigid tetrahedral compounds T1 and T2 that bear four tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) units, which are connected to a tetraphenylmethane core by the ethynylene or amide linker were designed and prepared. Upon one-electron oxidation of the TTF units by Fe(ClO4)3, the resulting TTF+ radical cations stacked intermolecularly to give rise to three-dimensional supramolecular polymers, which were supported by UV-vis spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, dynamic light scattering, and scanning electron microscopy.