Metal-free polymerization: Synthesis and properties of fused benzo[1,2-: B:4,5-b ′]bis [b] benzothiophene (BBBT) polymers

Yao, Liping; Liao, Hailiang; Ravva, Mahesh Kumar; Guo, Yanjun; Duan, Jiayao; Wang, Yazhou; Yu, Yaping; Li, Zhengke; Wadsworth, Andrew; Yue, Wan

Metal-free polymerization: Synthesis and properties of fused benzo[1,2-: B:4,5-b ′]bis [b] benzothiophene (BBBT) polymers

Embargo End Date

2021-05-19

Type

Article

Authors

Yao, Liping
Liao, Hailiang
Ravva, Mahesh Kumar
Guo, Yanjun
Duan, Jiayao
Wang, Yazhou
Yu, Yaping
Li, Zhengke
Wadsworth, Andrew

Yue, Wan

KAUST Department

Chemical Science Program
KAUST Solar Center (KSC)
Physical Science and Engineering (PSE) Division

Date

2020

Submitted Date

2020-04-28

Abstract

We report the "green" synthesis and characterization of a series of fused benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b′]bis[b]benzothiophene (BBBT) polymers containing a phenyl ring and naphthalene as comonomers, as well as BBBT homopolymers. These novel fused polymers have been obtained from simple acid and hexaethyltriaminophosphine catalyzed polymerization without involving any metal catalyst. The effect of the different aromatic units on the optical and electronic properties of the resulting polymers has been studied. It was found that these polymers possess high electron affinities due to the presence of electron-deficient lactams on each repeat unit. BBBT-P and BBBT-N exhibit NIR absorption spectra with the tail extending to 1000 nm, while the BBBT homopolymer exhibits a large blue-shifted absorption.

Citation

Yao, L., Liao, H., Ravva, M. K., Guo, Y., Duan, J., Wang, Y., … Yue, W. (2020). Metal-free polymerization: synthesis and properties of fused benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b′]bis[b]benzothiophene (BBBT) polymers. Polymer Chemistry, 11(22), 3695–3700. doi:10.1039/d0py00623h

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the NSF of China (Grant No. 21875291 and 21702240) for the financial support. L. Yao thanks Guangxi University for Nationalities Graduate Education Innovation Project (gxun-chxps201819) and the specific research project of Guangxi for research bases and talents (AD18126005) for the financial support. MKR thanks the SRM Supercomputer Centre, SRM Institute of Science and Technology for providing the computational facility.