α‐Oligofurans: An Emerging Class of Conjugated Oligomers for Organic Electronics

Abstract

While the field of organic electronics has developed extensively in recent years, it remains limited by number of materials available. Further expansion requires the innovation of new types of π-conjugated backbones, but suitable candidates are discovered only very rarely. The recent introduction of a new class of conjugated materials, long α-oligofurans, was therefore greeted with considerable interest. α-Oligofurans possess many of the properties required to excel in applications as organic electronic materials, can be manufactured from renewable resources, and are expected to be biodegradable. This Minireview provides an account of long oligofurans from the perspectives of their synthesis, molecular properties, chemical reactivity, and use in electronic devices.

Facile synthesis and properties of dithieno[3,2-b:2′,3′-d]arsoles

“…Heteroles, e.g. borole, 1 pyrrole, 2 furan, 3 silole, 4 and thiophene, 5 have been a mainstream in this field for more than a century due to their attractive electronic characters. For example, siloles-based materials show high electron transport property because the σ*-π* conjugation effectively lowers their lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) levels.…”

Effect of donor strength of extended alkyl auxiliary groups on optoelectronic and charge transport properties of novel naphtha[2,1-b:6,5-b′]difuran derivatives: simple yet effective strategy

“…Furan is also one of the simplest hetero-aromatic complexes discovered in 1870 [6] and less aromatic than thiophene [7][8][9][10], which is the major contribution to its superior reactivity. On the other hand, unlike acene-or thiophene-based organic semiconductor materials (OSMs), furan could be attained absolutely from renewable resources [10][11][12][13][14]. Additionally, contrasting to the generally used elementary structures for OSMs, furan and several furan-containing compounds are biodegradable [10,[15][16][17].…”

“…Furthermore, long oligo-furans having more than one furan rings, have been studied and compared with other π-conjugated materials. Oligo-furans and oligofuran-containing polymers are reported excellent OSMs for OFETs and organic solar cells [10]. A series of oligo-naphthofurans composed of alternating naphthalene and furan rings by repeating a bottomup method; three-dimensional, fan-shaped π-conjugated compounds were synthesized [21], where optical and charge transport properties have been studied theoretically for long oligo-furans as well.…”

“…On the other hand, unlike acene-or thiophene-based organic semiconductor materials (OSMs), furan could be attained absolutely from renewable resources [10][11][12][13][14]. Additionally, contrasting to the generally used elementary structures for OSMs, furan and several furan-containing compounds are biodegradable [10,[15][16][17].…”

Special Issue on Organic Electronics: In Memory of Prof. Michael Bendikov (1971–2013)

“…Now furan building blocks are widely used by many research groups in various conjugated systems. [8] The distinct feature of Bendikovs approach was the focus on a fundamental understanding of structure-properties relationships. [9] One of these was establishing the role of heteroatoms in the properties of polyheterocyclic conjugated chains.…”