Selectivity of Reaction Sites for Direct Arylation Polycondensation in Bithiophene Derivatives

Abstract

Direct arylation polycondensation has recently emerged as the method for the synthesis of π-conjugated polymers. In developing this methodology, site selectivity of the reacting C-H bonds is one of the most important issues. Herein, we investigate the direct arylation polycondensation of bithiophene and dialkylbithiophenes to assess site selectivity. We found that low temperature was a key factor for high selectivity in bithiophene, and that 4,4′-dicyclohexylbithiophene exhibited the highest selectivity among the tested dialkylbithiophenes reaction sites.