Diacetylenics containing adjacent triple bonds

A process for preparing a diacetylenic compound comprising the steps of reacting coupling an acetylenic acid in the presence of cuprous chloride to form the diacetylenic diacid having the formula COOH—(CH2)m—C≡C—C≡C—(CH2)m—COOH and then reacting the diacetylenic diacid with a lithium compound RLi to form the diacetylenic compound, the acetylenic acid is selected from the group consisting of compounds defined by the formula COOH—(CH2)m—C≡CH and mixtures thereof and the diacetylenic compound is selected from the group consisting of compounds defined by the formula

• COOH—(CH2)m—C≡C—C≡C—(CH2)m—C(═O)—R,
• R—C(═O)—(CH2)m—C≡C—C≡C—(CH2)m—C(═O)—R,
• and mixtures thereof, where m is 1-18 and R is selected from the group consisting of carbon groups containing 1-15 hydrocarbon atoms and aromatic monocyclic and multicyclic groups containing 6-35 carbon atoms.

A composition of matter defined as follows:

• COOH—(CH2)m—C≡C—C≡C—(CH2)m—C(═O)—R,
• R—C(═O)—(CH2)m—C≡C—C≡C—(CH2)m—C(═O)—R,
• and mixtures thereof, where m is 1-18 and R is selected from alkyl groups of 1-10 and cyclic groups containing 3-35 carbon 5 atoms.

A composition of matter defined as follows:

• COOH—(CH2)m—C≡C—C≡C—(CH2)m—CH2—R,
• R—CH2—(CH2)m—C≡C—C≡C—(CH2)m—CH2—R,
• and mixtures thereof, where m is 1-18 and R is selected from alkyl groups of 1-10 and cyclic groups containing 6-35 carbon atoms.