New Synthetic Metal Precursors: Substituted Tetrathiotetracene and Related Compounds

The electron donor tetrathiotetracene (TTT), Fig. 1, forms charge transfer salts which, at room temperature, possess some of the highest electrical conductivities of any known synthetic metal1. For example, a conductivity of ca 103 S/cm is observed for (TTT)2I3 at room temperature. As the temperature of the complex is decreased, the conductivity increases until ca 35 K, at which point it decreases dramatically2. While not firmly established, it is believed that the latter behavior is the result of a Peierls transition, which allows alternating pairwise interactions to occur between adjacent TTT molecules and cations.