A Methyl Substituted Thiophenic-TTF Donor and its Salts
α-Methyldithiophene–tetrathiafulvalene (α-mDT-TTF), the first alkyl-substituted thiophene–tetrathiafulvalene electronic donor, and some of its charge-transfer salts were explored. The crystal structure of α-mDT-TTF is composed of molecular stacks aligned parallel to each other. Its cyclic voltammetry shows higher electron-donor ability than the unsubstituted analogue. This material was employed as a semiconductor in an organic field-effect transistor and showed a mobility of 4 10–4 cm2V–1 s–1. Two charge-transfer salts of this donor with [M(mnt)2]– anions (mnt = maleonitriledithiolate), M = Co and Au, were obtained by electrocrystallization; they present unusual stoichiometries: (α-mDTTTF)[ Co(mnt)2] and (α-mDT-TTF)3[Au(mnt)2]2. In the cobalt compound, the donor molecules are fully oxidized and the Co complex is dimerized; it presents semiconducting behavior (7 10–3 Scm–1). The gold compound is composed of alternating stacks of donor trimers and pairs of anions. ; This work was supported by Portuguese Fundação do Ministério de Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) through contract PTDC/QEQ-SUP/ 1413/2012, UID/Multi/04349/2013, RECI/QEQ-QIN/0189/2012 and PhD grant SFRH/BD/86131/2012.We also acknowledge financial support of the European Union (EU) project ERC StG 2012- 306826 e-GAMES and the Networking Research Center of Bioengineering, Biomaterials and Nanomedicine (CIBER-BBN), the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN), and Fondos Europeos para el Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) with project BE-WELL CTQ2013-40480-R and the Generalitat de Catalunya with project 2014-SGR. We acknowledge the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility for provision of synchrotron radiation facilities, and we would like to thank Jonathan Wright for assistance in using beamline ID11. [ ; Peer reviewed