New electroactive asymmetrical chalcones and therefrom derived 2-amino- / 2-(1H-pyrrol-1-yl)pyrimidines, containing an N-[ω-(4-methoxyphenoxy)alkyl]carbazole fragment: synthesis, optical and electrochemical properties

In this paper we present a synthetic approach to six new D–π–A–D conjugated chromophores containing the N-[ω-(4-methoxyphenoxy)alkyl]carbazole fragment. Such readily functionalizable heterocycle as carbazole was used as a main starting compound for their preparation. The investigation of the optical properties has shown that the positive solvatochromism is inherent to the chromophores containing an electron-withdrawing prop-2-en-1-one fragment, while the compounds containing a 2-aminopyrimidine moiety exhibit both positive and negative solvatochromism. The fluorescence quantum yields were experimentally determined for some of the synthesized chromophores; e.g., 1-(5-arylthiophen-2-yl)ethanones quantum yields were found to lie in an interval of 60–80%. Electrochemical oxidation of the synthesized chromophores has resulted in the formation of colored thin oligomeric films that became possible due to the presence of carbazole or pyrrole fragments with free electron-rich positions.