Donor-acceptor poly(arylene vinylene)s (D-A PAVs) are an underexplored class of conjugated polymers largely owing to their challenging synthesis. Through computational screening, these materials are predicted to be an exciting medium for identifying new singlet fission-capable conjugated polymers. This property has previously been reported in only a handful of conjugated polymers and has applications in developing high performance organic solar cells. Given their promise in singlet fission, overcoming challenges to synthesize these materials is of immense interest. Herein, we detail the use of ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) to synthesize D-A PAVs in a living manner. This yields polymers with well-defined molecular weights, gives access to block copolymers, and a modular scaffold to interrogate the sequence of the resulting polymer. New ROMP-capable monomers are being specially designed through rigorous computational screening. Through this we explore unique properties, like singlet fission, resulting from the vinyl linkage between aromatic rings in D-A PAVs in comparison to aryl-aryl linked D-A polymers.

Synthesis of donor-acceptor poly(arylene vinylene)s by ROMP toward emerging applications in organic solar cells

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