Benzene-based 1,1-dicyanomethylene-3-indanone (IC) derivatives have been widely utilized as the end-group to construct acceptor−donor−acceptor type nonfullerene acceptors (A−D−A type NFAs). The extension of the end-group conjugation of nonfullerene acceptors (NFAs) is a rational strategy to facilitate intermolecular stacking of the end-groups which are responsible for efficient electron transportation. A bicyclic benzothiophene-based end-group acceptor, 2-(3-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[b]cyclopenta [d]thiophen-1-ylidene)malononitrile, denoted as α-BC was designed and synthesized. The Knoevenagel condensation of the unsymmetrical 1,3-diketo-precursor with one equivalent of malononitrile selectively reacts with the keto group attached at the α-position of the thiophene unit, leading to the isomerically pure benzothiophene-fused α-BC. The well-defined α-BC with extended conjugation was condensed with three different laddertype diformylated donors to form three new A−D−A NFAs named BDCPDT-BC, DTCC-BC, and ITBC, respectively. The corresponding IC-based BDCPDT-IC, DTCC-IC, and ITIC model compounds were also synthesized for comparison. The incorporation of the electron-rich benzothiophene unit in the end-group upshifts the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital energy levels of the NFAs, which beneficially enlarges the V oc values. On the other hand, the benzothiophene unit in α-BC not also imparts an optical transition in the shorter wavelengths around 340−400 nm for a better light harvesting ability but also promotes the antiparallel π−π stacking of the end-groups for efficient electron transport. The organic photovoltaic cell devices using a PBDB-T polymer and BC-based NFAs all showed the improved V oc and J sc values. The BDCPDT-BC-and DTCC-BCbased devices exhibited a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 10.82 and 10.74%, respectively, which outperformed the corresponding BDCPDT-IC-, and DTCC-IC-based devices (9.33 and 9.25%). More importantly, the ITBC-based device delivered the highest PCE of 12.07% with a J sc of 19.90 mA/cm 2 , a V oc of 0.94 V, and an fill factor of 64.51%, representing a 14% improvement relative to the traditional ITIC-based device (10.05%).

2-Alkyl (1) alkyl (2) -type aliphatic side chains with a branching point position at the C 2 -position (such as 2-ethylhexyl or 2-octayldodecyl) have been widely implanted into numerous donor−acceptor conjugated copolymers for solution processable transistors or organic solar cells. However, the tertiary branching site located at the second carbon inevitably imposes steric hindrance that twists the main-chain coplanarity and attenuates interchain interactions. In this research, we developed a new two-dimensonal thiophene−vinylene−thiophene (TVT) derivative where a carbon−carbon triple bond is inserted between the thiophene unit and the 2-octyldodecyl group. This acetylene-incorporated TVT (aTVT) was copolymerized with 5,10-di(thiophen-2-yl)naphtho[1,2-c:5,6-c′]bis-([1,2,5]thiadiazole) (DTNT) and 5,6-difluoro-4,7-di(thiophen-2-yl)benzo[c][1,2,5]thiadiazole (DTFBT) to form the polymers PaTVT-NT and PaTVT-FBT, respectively. PTVT-FBT, without the triple bond, was also prepared for comparison. The insertion of a linear triple bond moves the tertiary carbon away from the main chain to reduce the steric hindrance, thereby improving the main-chain coplanarity and facilitating the interchain interactions. The acetylene-incorporated copolymers show better thermal stability, red-shifted absorption spectra, stronger intermolecular aggregation, lower-lying electron affinity, and much higher solid-state crystallinity. Due to the linear and coplanar polymeric backbone supported by theoretical calculation, PaTVT-NT exhibits high crystallinity and adopts strong stacking with an edge-on orientation in the thin film evidenced by 2D-GIXRD, leading to a high p-type OFET mobility up to 1.27 cm 2 V −1 s −1 with an on−off ratio of 9.22 × 10 5 . This value represents the highest value among the NT-based polymers. PaTVT-FBT also achieved a high mobility of 0.78 cm 2 V −1 s −1 , which greatly outperforms the corresponding nonacetylene PTVT-FBT counterpart. Most importantly, the preparation of 2-alkyl (1) alkyl (2) −acetylenyl side chain is synthetically feasible, which can be easily applied to create new conjugated polymers for high-performance solution-processable optoelectronics.

In this research, we developed six new selenophene-incorporated naphthobisthiadiazole-based donor−acceptor polymers PNT2Th2Se-OD, PNT2Se2Th-OD, PNT4Se-OD, PNT2Th2Se-DT, PNT2Se2Th-DT, and PNT4Se-DT. The structure−property relationships have been systematically established through the comparison of their structural variations: (1) isomeric biselenophene/bithiophene arrangement between PNT2Th2Se and PNT2Se2Th polymers, (2) biselenophene/bithiophene and quarterselenophene donor units between PNT2Th2Se/PNT2Se2Th and PNT4Se polymers, and (3) side-chain modification between the 2octyldodecylthiophene (OD)-and 2-decyltetradecyl (DT)-series polymers. The incorporation of selenophene units in the copolymers induces stronger charge transfer to improve the light-harvesting capability while maintaining the strong intermolecular interactions to preserve the intrinsic crystallinity for high carrier mobility. The organic field-effect transistor device using PNT2Th2Se-OD achieved a high hole mobility of 0.36 cm 2 V −1 s −1 with an on/off ratio of 1.9 × 10 5 . The solar cells with PNT2Th2Se-OD:PC 71 BM exhibited a power conversion efficiency of 9.47% with a V oc of 0.68 V, an fill factor of 67%, and an impressive J sc of 20.69 mA cm −2 .

This work clearly demonstrates the importance of chemical planarization in designing high-performance nonfullerene acceptors and the ternary-blend device using PBDB-T:DTFT9-FIC:PC71BM achieved a high PCE of 11.82%.

Alkylation of rhodium porphyrins was achieved in moderate to high yields in the presence of air and water. With this facile alkylation method, various alkyl Rh III (por) species, including those with tertiary alkyl, were synthesized. Mechanistic investigations suggest a parallel S N 2 via [Rh I (ttp)] − with halogen atom transfer pathway via [Rh II (ttp)] • . ■ INTRODUCTIONRhodium porphyrin alkyls ( Figure 1) play an important role in catalysis. They are precursors of [Rh II (por)] • (por = porphyrinato dianion) metalloradicals for carbon−hydrogen bond 1 and carbon−carbon single bond activation. 1d,2 Activation of these strong bonds has gained much current interest for more efficient utilization of hydrocarbons. 3 To the best of our knowledge, only primary and secondary alkyl Rh III (por) species have been reported so far. Tertiary alkyl Rh III (por) species remain unknown, which may be of great interest in investigating its role in catalysis. Hence, developing robust methods to access alkyl Rh III (por) species, especially tertiary alkyl Rh III (por) species, is important.The synthesis of rhodium porphyrin alkyls was first reported by Ogoshi in 1972 by the reaction between Rh III (oep)Cl (oep =2,3,7,8,12,13,17,18-octaethylporphyrinato dianion) and MeLi (Scheme 1a). 4 A more versatile method involves the reduction of Rh III (por)Cl by NaBH 4 to generate [Rh I (por)] − . [Rh I (por)] − then undergoes nucleophilic substitution with alkyl halides to give the corresponding rhodium porphyrin alkyls (Scheme 1b). 5 In 1986, Kadish and co-workers reported the Rh−C bond formation by the electrochemically generated monomeric species [Rh II (tpp)] • (tpp = 5,10,15,20-tetraphenylporphyrinato dianion) (Scheme 1c). 6 In 1990, Wayland discovered the formation of Rh−C bond by carbon−hydrogen bond activation of CH 4 and toluene to give Rh(por)Me and Rh(por)Bn (Scheme 1d). 1a,b The carbon−oxygen bond cleavage of methanol by Rh III (ttp)Cl (ttp =5,10,15,20-tetratolylporphyrinato dianion) in alkaline media was discovered to give a high yield of Rh III (ttp)Me and was reported by Chan in 2009 (Scheme 1e). 7 In 2010, Chan and co-workers found the formation of the Rh−C bonds by carbon−nitrogen bond activation (CNA) of amines (Scheme 1f). 8 This CNA method, further developed by the Dong group, tolerates air and water by utilizing ammonium salts as the alkylating agents (Scheme 1g). An S N 2-like reaction pathway involving a [Rh I (por)] − intermediate was proposed. 9 These reported methods are unlikely to prepare a tertiary alkyl Rh III (por) species due to the steric hindrance. Herein, we disclose a facile Figure 1. Structure of rhodium porphyrin alkyls. Scheme 1. Synthesis of Rhodium Porphyrin AlkylsArticle pubs.acs.org/Organometallics