ABSTRACT

Semiconducting organic conjugated polymers are characterized by a backbone chain of alternating double- and single-bonds, which are commonly used as photoactive materials in photovoltaic devices. One of the most widely studied design methodologies for the synthesis of conjugated polymers is the donor-acceptor approach in which the backbones of the polymers are built from covalently bonded electron rich and electron poor aromatic units assembled together via transition metal-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions. This chapter is devoted to give an overview on the progresses made in the design and synthesis of donor-acceptor conjugated polymers and discuss their optical, electrochemical, and photovoltaic characteristics. The structure-property correlations of the polymers, prepared by the different transition metal-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions are also discussed.