Optoelectronic properties, substituent effect

In this chapter, we focus on the effect of fluorine as a substituent in a simple polymeric system, polyacetylene. Polyacetylene, of course, has several potentially practical uses because of its conducting and optoelectronic properties (15) and we are interested in studying how F substitution might influence these properties. Our model systems are butadiene and hexatriene, and we discuss both partially fluorinated and perfluorinated materials. Because we discovered that CF - HC hydrogen bonding is important in these systems, we also present results on the nature of the intramolecular hydrogen bond between the CF and OH groups in alcohols and enols. Related results on intramolecular coordination of alkali metals to C-F bonds in fluoroenolates are briefly described. 

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