A NEW RADICAL CATION SALT - ELECTROCRYSTALLIZATION OF TRANS-1,2-BIS(2-NAPHTHYL)ETHENE AND MODEL CHARACTER OF THE RESULTING SALT FOR CONDUCTING ARYLENEVINYLENE POLYMERS

A single-crystal radical cation salt was obtained by anodic oxidation of trans-1,2-bis(2-naphthyl)ethene (1,2-DNE) with SbF6- as the counter -ion. The crystal structure of (1,2-DNE)SbF6 was solved and found to b e similar to the radical cation salts of unsubstituted naphthalene. Th e crystal structure is disordered, i. e. two orientations of the 1,2-D NE molecules are statistically occupied. The molecular overlap, result ing from these two orientations, models the structure of the salt of p oly(2,6-naphthylenevinylene). In contrast to most other radical cation salts which are one-dimensional conductors, a conduction mechanism of higher dimensionality is predicted on the basis of the crystal struct ure of (1,2-DNE)SbF6. The identical type of disorder is also present i n the crystal structure of trans-1,2-bis(1-naphthyl)ethene.