A series of ladder-type fused heteroacenes consisting of thiophenes and benzothiophenes were synthesized.  They were shown to be p-type semiconductors with wide band gaps and able to support multiple stable cationic states. They exhibit good two-photon absorbers, exhibiting high two-photon absorption coefficients. These molecules can be functionalized with thiol groups for single-molecule electrical measurements via a scanning tunneling microscopy break-junction method.  It was found that this molecular wire system possesses exceptional charge transport properties with weak length dependence. The tunneling decay constant β was estimated to be 0.088 and 0.047 Å<sup>–1</sup> under 0.1 and 0.5 bias, respectively, which is one of the lowest β values among other non-metal-containing molecular wires, indicating that a planar ladder structure favors charge transport.

Ladder oligomers and their electrical and optical properties

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ACS Fall 2022

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