NHC-PdCatalytic Systems (NHC = N-Heterocyclic Carbene) for the Synthesis of Novel Triarylamine Polymers Containing Fused Heterocyclic Rings

A new era in displays, lighting and electronics is opening with the introduction of devices and circuits fabricated using high performance organic semiconductors. Opportunities include low power consumption, large area lighting, intelligent data tags for supply chain monitoring and ubiquitous, personalised devices that can be wearable, printable and fabricated in large numbers using lower cost facilities than conventional fabrication facilities. Realising these devices requires high purity, well-defined organic semiconductors with robust, high performance. To deliver these requirements efficient, scaleable synthetic routes need to be developed that preferably lead to a diversity of material structures and products of the desired purity. Transition metal catalysed polymerisations in principle meet the requirements but in general commercial catalysts or precursors are employed that are not necessarily optimised for the reactions required to assemble conjugated oligomers and polymers, hence high loadings of catalysts are used that can lead to significant levels of impurities in the products that are difficult to remove. This proposal will initiate a collaborative programme of work between the research group of Professor Oscar Navarro of the University of Hawaii, USA and that of Professor Mike Turner of the University of Manchester, UK. Navarro's group is developing new transition metal-based catalytic systems for C-C and C-X bond formation (X = N, O, S) and Turner's group has complementary interests in the synthesis of conjugated oligomers and polymers, the characterisation of these materials, their formulation for solution processing and the fabrication of OFET and photovoltaic devices using these materials. This proposal focusses on optimising catalyst systems for the preparation of arylamine and carbazole based polymers and investigating the performance of the resulting materials. It will examine the benefits of such a holistic approach to organic semiconductor development and open up entirely new classes of materials for investigation.