2,5-Bis(trimethylsilylethynyl)thieno[3,2-b]thiophene

2,5-Bis(trimethylsilylethynyl)thieno[3,2-b]thiophene, C16H20S2Si2, is a trimethylsilyl-protected diyne. It is a precursor in the formation of platinum and gold diyne complexes and and polyyne polymers. These materials are of interest because of the pi-conjugation that extends through the fused oligothienyl linker unit along the rigid backbone of the polymer. In the structure of the title compound, the oligothienyl group is planar, by crystallographic symmetry, and the trimethylsilyl-alkyne groups are essentially linear.