Tetrabromoalkylthiacalix[4]arenes（1a and 1b） reacted with excess bis（tetraethylammonium）-bis（1,3- dithiole-2-thione-4,5-dithiol）zincate（2） to give thiacalix[4]arene-thiones（3a and 3b） in the presence of Na2S. Two novel bistetrathiafulvalene-attached thiacalix[4]arene assemblies（5a and 5b） formed via triethyl phosphite-mediated cross-coupling of thiacalix[4]arene-thiones（3a and 3b） and 4,5-biscyanoethylthio-1,3-dithiole-2-one（4）. All the four new compounds were characterized by 1H NMR, 13C NMR, IR, MS spectra and elemental analysis. Meanwhile, the structures of thiacalix[4]arene-thiones（3a and 3b） were identified by X-ray analysis. In addition, the cyclic voltammograms of the resulting thiacalix[4]arenes containing electroactive TTF units（5a and 5b） were provided.
Two tetrathiafulvalene-calix[4]arene assemblies （TTF-calix-1 and TFF-calix-2） have been synthesized by the click reaction. Both their cyclic voltammograms show, as expected, two one-electron quasi- reversible redox behavior. The UV-vis absorption spectra studies show that these two assemblies undergo progressive oxidation at the TFF moiety in presence of increasing amounts of Cu2＋ or Hg2＋. Moreover, the absorption studies show intermolecular electron transfer between compounds TrF-calix- I or TI＇F-calix-2 and p-chloranil may be promoted by specific metal ions such as Pb2＋, Sc3＋ etc.
