Synthesis and Characterization of DPP-Based Conjugated Polymers via Dehydrogenative Direct Alkenylation Polycondensation

Molecular Design of Naphthalene- and Carbazole-Based Monomers for Regiospecific Synthesis of Poly(arylenevinylene)s via Co-Catalyzed Hydroarylation Polyaddition

This study focuses on the development of regiospecific hydroarylation polyaddition of naphthalene- and carbazole-based monomers with diynes under mild reaction conditions at room temperature. A 1-pyrazole substituent serves as an appropriate directing group for a Co-catalyst to efficiently activate the C-H bonds of generally inactive six-membered aromatic hydrocarbons. The 1-pyrazole groups in 2,6-di(1-pyrazolyl)naphthalene adopt planar conformations and act as directing groups, resulting in a smooth hydroarylation reaction. In contrast, the reaction with 1,5-di(1-pyrazolyl)naphthalene do not proceed. The polyaddition reaction of 2,6-di(1-pyrazolyl)naphthalene selectively proceeds at 3,7-positions under mild reaction conditions at 30 °C, and yields corresponding poly(arylenevinylene) (PAV) with high molecular weight. This molecular design is also applicable to the hydroarylation polyaddition of carbazole; the polyaddition reaction of 9-(2-ethylhexyl)-3,6-di(1-pyrazolyl)carbazole selectively occurred at 2,7-positions. The optical and electronic properties of the synthesized compounds are evaluated. The obtained PAVs serve as an emitting material in organic light-emitting diode (OLED). This study aims to develop a Co-catalyzed hydroarylation polyaddition via C-H activation of generally inactive polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) under mild conditions.

Regioselective Synthesis of Pyrrole-Based Poly(arylenevinylene)s via Mn-Catalyzed Hydroarylation Polyaddition

Mn-catalyzed hydroarylation polyaddition of 1-(2-pyrimidinyl)pyrrole (1a) with aromatic diynes is investigated. The use of commercially available MnBr(CO)5 as a precatalyst under the optimized reaction conditions resulted in a site- and regioselective hydroarylation polyaddition, affording the corresponding poly(arylenevinylene)s (PAVs) with excellent vinylene selectivity. The reaction protocol eliminates the production of stoichiometric amounts of byproducts from the monomers. The nonstoichiometric polyaddition of an excess amount of 1a with aromatic diynes is also demonstrated. The 2-pyrimidinyl substituent promoted the intramolecular transfer of the Mn catalyst walking through the 1a moiety.

Halogen-, oxidant- and directing group-free synthesis of donor-acceptor type conjugated polymers

An intermolecular hydrogen migration from dibutadienylpyridine to dialkynylthiophene catalysed by [Ru(η6-naphthalene)(η4-oxa-bnd)] (oxa-bnd = 9-oxabicyclo[3.3.1]nona-2,6-diene) produces poly(dialkynylthiophene-alt-dibutadienylpyridine). The exact alternating copolymerisation nature is shown by MALDI-TOF MS.

Isoindigo-Based Dual-Acceptor Conjugated Polymers Incorporated Conjugation Length and Intramolecular Charge Transfer for High-Efficient Photothermal Conversion

Photothermal tumor therapy (PTT) and photoacoustic imaging (PA) have emerged as promising noninvasive diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for cancer treatment. However, the development of efficient PTT agents with high photostability and strong near-infrared (NIR) absorption remains challenging. This study synthesizes three isoindigo-based dual-acceptor conjugated polymers (CPs) (P-IIG-TPD, P-IIG-DPP, and P-IIG-EDOT-BT) via a green and nontoxic direct arylation polymerization (DArP) method and characterizes their optical, electrochemical, and NIR photothermal conversion properties. By incorporating two acceptors into the backbone, the resulting polymers exhibit enhanced photothermal conversion efficiency (PCE) due to improved synergy among conjugation length, planarity, and intramolecular charge transfer (ICT). The nanoparticles (NPs) of P-IIG-EDOT-BT and P-IIG-DPP have a uniform size distribution around 140 nm and exhibit remarkable NIR absorption at 808 nm. In addition, P-IIG-EDOT-BT and P-IIG-DPP NPs exhibit high PCEs of 62% and 78%, respectively. This study promotes the molecular design of CPs as NIR photothermal conversion materials and provides guidance for the development of novel dual-acceptor CPs for tumor diagnosis and treatment.

Cross-Dehydrogenative Coupling Polymerization via C-H Activation for the Synthesis of Conjugated Polymers

Owing to their versatile (opto)electronic properties, conjugated polymers have found application in several organic electronic devices. Cross-coupling reactions such as Stille, Suzuki, Kumada couplings, and direct arylation reactions have proved to be effective for their synthesis. More atom-efficient oxidative direct arylation polymerization has also been reported for making homopolymers. However, growing interest toward donor-acceptor polymers has led to the recent emergence of cross-dehydrogenative coupling (CDC) polymerization to synthesize alternating copolymers without any prefunctionalization of monomers. Metal-catalyzed cross-coupling of two simple arenes via double C-H activation, or of an arene with an alkene via oxidative Heck-type reaction have been used so far for CDC polymerization. In this article, we discuss the development of CDC polymerization protocols along with the relevant small molecule CDC reactions for an improved understanding of these reactions.

Sterically controlled C-H alkenylation of pyrroles and thiophenes

Pd-catalyzed C-H alkenylations targeting the least hindered position of N-alkyl pyrroles and 3-substituted thiophenes, as opposed to electronically controlled approaches, are developed. The steric demand and stable bidentate binding mode of the pyrazolonaphthyridine ligand are key to the success of these sterically controlled alkenylations using oxygen as an oxidant.

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.

Synthesis of Pyrrole-Based Poly(arylenevinylene)s via Co-Catalyzed Hydroarylation of Alkynes

Polyaddition via the Co-catalyzed hydroarylation of 1-(2-pyrimidinyl)pyrrole with aromatic diynes affords poly(arylenevinylene)s under mild conditions. This reaction avoids production of stoichiometric amounts of by-products. Although structural analysis of the obtained polymers reveals the presence of 1,1-vinylidene unit, switching the counter anion of the Co catalyst and steric hindrance of the diyne monomers improves the regioselectivity of the polymers. When a catalyst with bulky counter anions is used for the reaction of less hindered diyne monomers, 1,2-vinylene linkages are formed dominantly over 1,1-vinylidene linkages (93:7). The effect of the regioselectivity of the polymer on the optical and semiconducting properties is also evaluated.