title: Branched terthiophenes in organic electronics: from small molecules to polymers.
abstract: A zoo of chemical structures is accessible when the branched unit 2,2':3',2″-terthiophene (3T) is included both in structurally well-defined small molecules and polymer-like architectures. The first part of this review article highlights literature on all-thiophene based branched oligomers including dendrimers as well as combinations of 3T-units with functional moieties for light-harvesting systems. Motivated by the perfectly branched macromolecular dendrimers both electropolymerization as well as chemical approaches are presented as methods for the preparation of branched polythiophenes with different branching densities. Structure-function relationships between the molecular architecture and optical and electronic properties are discussed throughout the article.
authors.affiliation: IPOC - Functional Polymers, Institute of Polymer Chemistry, University of Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 55, 70569, Stuttgart, Germany.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Scheuble
authors.forename: Miriam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Goll
authors.forename: Sabine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ludwigs
mesh_terms: D050091:Dendrimers / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry*; D055615:Electrical Equipment and Supplies; D004581:Electronics; D046911:Macromolecular Substances / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry*; D008956:Models, Chemical; D015394:Molecular Structure; D055601:Organic Chemistry Phenomena; D011108:Polymers / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry*; D013876:Thiophenes / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D050091:Dendrimers; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D011108:Polymers; D013876:Thiophenes; C019101:alpha-terthienyl; C066730:polythiophene
keywords: branched polythiophenes; conjugated polymers; dendrimers; organic electronics; small molecules