Fine tuning of frontier orbital energy levels in dithieno[3,2-b:2′,3′-d]silole-based copolymers based on the substituent effect of phenyl pendants
作者:Tomoyuki Ikai、Tomoya Kudo、Masahiro Nagaki、Tomoyuki Yamamoto、Katsuhiro Maeda、Shigeyoshi Kanoh
DOI:10.1016/j.polymer.2014.03.021
日期:2014.4
A series of dithieno[3,2-b:2 ',3 '-d]silole-based pi-conjugated copolymers containing thieno[3,4-c]pyrrole-4,6-dione or thieno[3,4-b]thiophene units bearing 4-substituted phenyl pendants were synthesized and their thermal stability, optical properties and frontier orbital energy levels were systematically investigated. The introduction of electron-withdrawing substituents on the phenyl rings lowered their frontier orbital energy levels without deteriorating their thermal and optical properties. By replacing an electron-donating methoxy group with an electron-withdrawing trifluoromethyl group, both the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital energy levels of the polymers were deepened by more than 0.3 eV. A relatively linear relationship was observed between the HOMO energy levels and the Hammett substituent constants. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.