Polydiacetylenes with long wavelength absorption

A series of 1,6-disubstituted-2,4-hexadiynes, where the substituents are pa ra-substituted benzene rings that have either a dicyanovinyl or tricyanovin yl group as one substituent and have either an oxygen or N-alkyl group conn ecting to the hexadiyne chain, was designed to lead to polydiacetylenes (PD As) with long wavelength absorption, and these PDAs were synthesized. These new compounds, in contrast to other diacetylene monomers, are relatively i nsensitive to ultraviolet light and ionizing radiation under ambient temper ature and require heating above 100 degrees C to bring about preparatively useful conversion to polymer. The new PDAs have the usual en-yne backbone s tructure as shown by Raman spectroscopy. Three of the new PDAs exhibit maxi ma in diffuse reflectance at wavelengths as long as or longer than the PDA of 1,6-di-N-carbazolyl-2,4-hexadiyne.