Direct arylation polymerization toward a narrow bandgap donor–acceptor conjugated polymer of alternating 5,6‐difluoro‐2,1,3‐benzothiadiazole and alkyl‐quarternarythiophene: From synthesis,optoelectronic properties to devices

ABSTRACT: Direct arylation polymerization (DAP) enabled facile synthesis of a narrow bandgap donor–acceptor conjugated polymer (PDFBT‐Th₄) composed of alternating 5,6‐difluoro‐2,1,3‐benzothiadiazole and alkyl‐quaternarythiophene. The optimized reaction condition of DAP catalyzed with Pd(OAc)₂/(o‐MeOPh)₃P/PivOH/K₂CO₃ in o‐xylene led to the target polymer with a number‐average molecular weight (M_n) of 14.6 kDa without noticeable homocoupling or β‐branching defects. UV‐vis absorption spectra of PDFBT‐Th₄ indicate strong interchain aggregation in films. While the C‐H selectivity and the alternating polymer structure of PDFBT‐Th₄ synthesized via DAP are comparable to those of the same type polymers synthesized via Stille coupling, the batch of PDFBT‐Th₄ synthesized via optimal DAP, despite its lower M_n, showed higher hole mobility in field effect transistors and larger power conversion efficiency in organic solar cell devices. These results further demonstrate the promising potential of DAP for efficient synthesis of high‐performance D‐A conjugated polymers for broad optoelectronic applications. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2017 , 55, 1869–1879