Abstract
A new and divergent synthetic route to oligodiacetylene (ODA) building blocks has been developed via Sonogashira reactions under a reductive atmosphere. These central building blocks provide a new way for rapid preparation of long ODAs. In addition, we report on their optoelectronic properties which are dependent on their end cap. Finally, the formation of their radical cations, and their optical properties and reactivity towards nucleophiles are investigated. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.