Issue 21, 2014

Polythiophenes with vinylene linked ortho, meta and para-carborane sidechains

Abstract

We report the synthesis of a series of novel polythiophenes with vinylene linked pendant carborane sidechains. Polymers containing ortho, meta and para substituted carborane linked via a cis or trans double bond are reported. The inclusion of carborane sidechains is demonstrated to afford soluble polymers without the presence of any additional alkyl groups. The choice of carborane and double bond isomer is shown to influence the optoelectronic, photovoltaic and charge-transporting properties of the polymer. In particular the incorporation of ortho-carborane was shown to have a pronounced electron withdrawing effect resulting in a substantial increase in polymer ionisation potential. Field effect transistors and solar cells devices fabricated from the various isomers showed significant differences in performance.

Graphical abstract: Polythiophenes with vinylene linked ortho, meta and para-carborane sidechains

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
31 May 2014
Accepted
08 Jul 2014
First published
17 Jul 2014
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Polym. Chem., 2014,5, 6190-6199

Author version available

Polythiophenes with vinylene linked ortho, meta and para-carborane sidechains

J. Marshall, J. Hooton, Y. Han, A. Creamer, R. S. Ashraf, Y. Porte, T. D. Anthopoulos, P. N. Stavrinou, M. A. McLachlan, H. Bronstein, P. Beavis and M. Heeney, Polym. Chem., 2014, 5, 6190 DOI: 10.1039/C4PY00767K

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