Synthesis of 5-Alkyl[3,4-c]thienopyrrole-4,6-dione-Based Polymers by Direct Heteroarylation

Synthesis of Conjugated Polymers via Transition Metal Catalysed C-H Bond Activation

Transition metal catalysed C-H bond activation chemistry has emerged as an exciting and promising approach in organic synthesis. This allows us to synthesize a wider range of functional molecules and conjugated polymers in a more convenient and more atom economical way. The formation of C-C bonds in the construction of pi-conjugated systems, particularly for conjugated polymers, has benefited much from the advances in C-H bond activation chemistry. Compared to conventional transition-metal catalysed cross-coupling polymerization such as Suzuki and Stille cross-coupling, pre-functionalization of aromatic monomers, such as halogenation, borylation and stannylation, is no longer required for direct arylation polymerization (DArP), which involve C-H/C-X cross-coupling, and oxidative direct arylation polymerization (Ox-DArP), which involves C-H/C-H cross-coupling protocols driven by the activation of monomers' C(sp² )-H bonds. Furthermore, poly(annulation) via C-H bond activation chemistry leads to the formation of unique pi-conjugated moieties as part of the polymeric backbone. This review thus summarises advances to date in the synthesis of conjugated polymers utilizing transition metal catalysed C-H bond activation chemistry. A variety of conjugated polymers via DArP including poly(thiophene), thieno[3,4-c]pyrrole-4,6-dione)-containing, fluorenyl-containing, benzothiadiazole-containing and diketopyrrolopyrrole-containing copolymers, were summarized. Conjugated polymers obtained through Ox-DArP were outlined and compared. Furthermore, poly(annulation) using transition metal catalysed C-H bond activation chemistry was also reviewed. In the last part of this review, difficulties and perspective to make use of transition metal catalysed C-H activation polymerization to prepare conjugated polymers were discussed and commented.

Molecular Weight Engineering in High-Performance Ambipolar Emissive Mesopolymers

Mesopolymers with high solubility, free of structural defects, and negligible batch-to-batch variation open a new avenue for organic optoelectronics. Organic light emitting transistors that combine the functions of organic light-emitting diodes and organic field-effect transistors. However, charge transport ability and light emitting strength are contradictory within one conjugated polymer. Herein, three low-molecular-weight mesopolymers with thienopyrroledione-benzothiadiazole repeating units (meso-TBTF) were obtained. The mesopolymers show strong solid-state emission and high ambipolar carrier mobility. The molecular weights of meso-TBTF can be tuned by polymerization temperature. The mesopolymers have photoluminescence quantum yields (PLQY) of about 50 % in solution and 10 % in solid state. Polymer light emitting diodes of this material are fabricated to explore its potential use in optoelectronic devices.

Direct Arylation Polycondensation (DAP) Synthesis of Alternating Quaterthiophene-Benzothiadiazole Copolymers for Organic Solar Cell Applications

Poly[(2,1,3-benzothiadiazole-4,7-diyl)-alt-4',3''-difluoro-3,3'''-di(2-octyldodecyl)-2,2';5',2'';5'',2'''-quaterthiophene-5,5'''-diyl)] (PBTff4T-2OD) and poly[(5,6-difluoro-2,1,3-benzothiadiazol-4,7-diyl)-alt-3,3'''-di(2-octyldodecyl)-2,2';5',2'';5'',2'''-quaterthiophene-5,5'''-diyl)] (PffBT4T-2OD) for use as the p-donor component of high-efficiency fullerene-based organic solar cells are usually synthesized in established C-C cross-coupling reactions, preferably using the Stille procedure. This report describes how PBTff4T-2OD and PffBT4T-2OD are generated in a direct arylation polycondensation (DAP) approach with molecular weights up to M_n =19.4 kDa and 21.1 kDa, respectively, and how structural defects in the copolymers (e. g., homocoupling defects) show a strong impact on the pre-aggregation behavior. The optimized reaction conditions allow for a distinct reduction of the amount of such defects in the resulting copolymers. When the Stille-type products are used in the active layer of organic solar cells (OCSs) together with fullerene acceptors, high power-conversion efficiencies (PCEs) in the range of 8.6-10.8 % have been reported. The high PCEs are particularly related to the pre-aggregation of the conjugated copolymers prior to film formation. Despite quite similar characterization data, non-optimized OCSs with the DAP polymers as replacement for the Stille products afforded a relatively low power-conversion efficiency of up to 2.4 %.

Significant Difference in Semiconducting Properties of Isomeric All-Acceptor Polymers Synthesized via Direct Arylation Polycondensation

The direct arylation polycondensation (DArP) appeared as an efficient method for producing semiconducting polymers but often requires acceptor monomers with orienting or activating groups for the reactive carbon-hydrogen (C-H) bonds, which limits the choice of acceptor units. In this study, we describe a DArP for producing high-molecular-weight all-acceptor polymers composed of the acceptor monomers without any orienting or activating groups via a modified method using Pd/Cu co-catalysts. We thus obtained two isomeric all-acceptor polymers, P1 and P2, which have the same backbone and side-chains but different positions of the nitrogen atoms in the thiazole units. This subtle change significantly influences their optoelectronic, molecular packing, and charge-transport properties. P2 with a greater backbone torsion has favorable edge-on orientations and a high electron mobility μ_e of 2.55 cm²  V^-1  s^-1 . Moreover, P2-based transistors show an excellent shelf-storage stability in air even after the storage for 1 month.

Alternating Tetrafluorobenzene and Thiophene Units by Direct Arylation for Organic Electronics

Direct arylation represents an attractive alternative to the conventional cross-coupling methods because of its step-economic and eco-friendly advantages. A set of simple D-A oligomeric molecules (F-3, F-5, and F-7) by integrating thiophene (T) and tetrafluorobenzene (F4B) as alternating units through a direct arylation strategy is presented to obtain high-performance charge-transporting materials. Single-crystal analysis revealed their herringbone packing arrangements driven by intensive C-H⋅⋅⋅π interactions. An excellent hole-transporting efficiency based on single-crystalline micro-plates/ribbons was witnessed, and larger π-conjugation and D-A constitution gave higher mobilities. Consequently, an average mobility of 1.31 cm²  V^-1  s^-1 and a maximum mobility of 2.44 cm²  V^-1  s^-1 for F-7 were achieved, providing an effective way to obtain high-performance materials by designing simple D-A oligomeric systems.

Synthesis of benzothiadiazole-based molecules via direct arylation: an eco-friendly way of obtaining small semi-conducting organic molecules

Direct arylation proves to be a greener way than other classical methods for the coupling of benzothiadiazole with thiophene carboxaldehyde.

Identifying Homocouplings as Critical Side Reactions in Direct Arylation Polycondensation

Homocouplings are identified as major side reactions in direct arylation polycondensation (DAP) of 4,7-bis(4-hexyl-2-thienyl)-2,1,3-benzothiadiazole (TBT) and 2,7-dibromo-9-(1-octylnonyl)-9H-carbazole (CbzBr₂). Using size exclusion chromatography (SEC) and NMR spectroscopy, we demonstrate that both TBT and Cbz homocouplings occur at a considerable extent. TBT homocoupling preferentially occurs under phosphine-free conditions but can be suppressed in the presence of a phosphine ligand. Cbz homocoupling is temperature-dependent and more prevalent at higher temperatures. By contrast, evidence for chain branching as a result of unselective C-H arylation is not found for this monomer combination. These results emphasize that particular attention has to be paid to homocouplings in direct arylation polycondensations as a major source of main-chain defects, especially under phosphine-free conditions.