Electroactive and conducting star-branched poly(3-hexylthiophene)s with a conjugated core

A new star structured regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) with a conjugated hyperbranched poly(triphenylamine) as the core has been shown to be electr oactive and able to attain high levels of conduction up to 100 S/cm when do ped. A hyperbranched poly(triphenylamine) was synthesized by a Negishi coup ling reaction from tris(4-bromophenyl)amine with the terminal bromo group o n the hyperbranched polymer subsequently converted to a bromothiophene. Thi s functionalized hyperbranched polymer was used as a core for the synthesis of a star structured regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene). The star polymer has a fully conjugated system with conjugated arms of poly(3-hexylthiophen e) attached to a conjugated core of poly(triphenylamine). The solution, opt ical, and thermal properties of the polymers were investigated by SEC, UV-v is spectroscopy, TGA, and DSC. The results indicated that with the branched star structure the polymer retained a high degree of structural order as i s typical for regioregular poly(3-alkylthiophene)s.