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p-Tolyl-substituted ladder-type oligo(
p-phenylene)s containing three, f
our, and five phenylene rings were readily synthesized. The uniform arylsubstitution of these systems allowed us to determine the coplanarity of the
![](/images/gifchars/pi.gif)
-conjugated backbones crystallographically. The intramolecularannulations eliminate almost all of the conformational disorder and enhance the degree of
![](/images/gifchars/pi.gif)
-conjugation of the backbones, resulting insignificant red shifts in the absorption and emission maxima and lower oxidation potentials in the higher homologues.