Effect of Chalcogens on Electronic and Photophysical Properties of Vinylene-Based Diketopyrrolopyrrole Copolymers

Three vinylene linked diketopyrrolopyrrole based donor–acceptor (D–A) copolymers have been synthesized with phenyl, thienyl, and selenyl units as donors. Optical and electronic properties were investigated with UV–vis absorption spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, near edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy, organic field effect transistor (OFET) measurements, and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Optical and electrochemical band gaps decrease in the order phenyl, thienyl, and selenyl. Only phenyl-based polymers are nonplanar, but the main contributor to the larger band gap is electronic, not structural effects. Thienyl and selenyl polymers exhibit ambipolar charge transport but with higher hole than electron mobility. Experimental and theoretical results predict the selenyl system to have the best transport properties, but OFET measurements prove the thienyl system to be superior with p<i>-</i>channel mobility as high as 0.1 cm² V^–1 s<sup>–1