Facile synthesis of 3-alkoxy-4-cyanothiophenes as new building blocks for donor-acceptor conjugated systems.

3-Alkoxy-4-cyanothiophenes are efficiently synthesized in two steps from the readily available 4-cyano-3-oxotetrahydrothiophene. Regioisomers of bithiophene derivatives are easily synthesized by playing on the strong electronic dissymmetry of the thiophene ring induced by the alkoxy and cyano groups.