Bis-, Tris-, and Tetrakis(squaraines) Linked by Stilbenoid Scaffolds

The oligosquaraines 1−5, with stilbenoid scaffolds, were prepared by multistep syntheses in which the final steps consisted of condensation reactions between the semisquaric acid 21 and multiple resorcinols 12b−15b and 17b. The target compounds exhibit intense (ϵ > 250000 L·mol−1·cm−1) and sharp absorption bands with maxima between 687 to 778 nm, depending on the conjugation in the stilbenoid scaffold. Comparison with the monosquaraine 6 as a model compound reveals intramolecular interactions between different donor−acceptor−donor moieties, which give rise to increased absorption intensities.