Self-assembly of sulfur-containing heterocyclic compounds constructed by thianthrene units and their sulfonium salts

Abstract The self‐assembly of sulfur‐containing heterocyclic compounds, 5,6,11,12,17,18‐hexathia‐5,6,11,12,17,18‐hexahydrotrinaphthylene and 5,7,12,14‐tetrathiapentacene having octyloxy groups 1 and 2 , was examined. Sulfides 1 and 2 self‐assembled to form fibrous materials. The methylation reactions of 1 and 2 proceeded to give monomethylated sulfonium salts 3 and 4 , and the self‐assembly of 3 and 4 was also studied. Fibrous materials of sulfonium salts 3 and 4 were formed in hexane/ CHC l 3 solution. The structure of the fibrous material of 3 might be similar to that of the fibrous material of 1 . The aggregation behavior of 1 and 3 in cyclohexane‐ d 12 was studied by VT 1 H NMR measurements at various concentrations. VT 1 H NMR measurements revealed that the stacking structure of 1 was different from that of 3 .