A series of azobenzenealkanethiol compounds with the structure p-RC6H4N=NC6H4(CH2)nSH (n = 3, 4) was synthesized using a divergent strategy with the two anilines H2NC6H4(CH2)nSAc as central compounds. This strategy provides fast access to a broad variety of the respective azobenzenethiols without (note!) an oxygen atom in the alkyl chain, thus permitting the self-assembly of these compounds onto gold in a predictable conformation, also taking advantage of the previously found odd–even effect in aromatic–aliphatic hybrid systems. Initial experiments indicate that all of these molecules indeed form dense monolayers, in which the orientation of the azobenzene unit is determined by the number of methylene groups in the aliphatic part of the molecules.
以两个苯胺 H2NC6H4(CH2)nSAc 为中心化合物,采用发散策略合成了一系列结构为 p-RC6H4N=NC6H4(CH2)nSH(n = 3、4)的偶氮苯烷硫醇化合物。这种策略可以快速获得种类繁多、烷基链中没有(注意!)氧原子的偶氮苯硫醇,从而允许这些化合物以可预测的构象自组装到金上,同时还利用了之前在芳香族-脂肪族杂化体系中发现的奇偶效应。初步实验表明,所有这些分子确实形成了致密的单层,其中偶氮苯单元的取向由分子脂肪族部分的亚甲基数目决定。