Process for the production of linear organic thiophene-phenylene oligomers

1. A process for producing compounds represented by general formula (I),

wherein,

m denotes an integer from 1 to 5,

Ar denotes a member selected from the group consisting of 1,4-phenylene and 2,7-fluorenylene, in each case optionally substituted with a member selected from the group consisting of linear or branched C 1 –C 20 alkyl residues, and linear C 1 –C 20 alkyl residues interrupted by at least one O atom,

R 1 denotes a member selected from the group consisting of H, linear or branched C 1 –C 20 alkyl groups, linear C 1 –C 20 alkyl groups interrupted by at least one O atom, linear C 1 –C 20 alkyl groups interrupted by at least one S atom, silylene groups, phosphonoyl groups, phosphoryl groups, and C 3 –C 20 alkenyl groups,

R A , R B independently of one another, and independently for each n, are each selected from the group consisting of H, a linear or branched C 1 –C 20 alkyl group, a linear or branched C 1 –C 20 alkyl group interrupted with 1 to 10 oxygen atoms, a C 1 –C 20 alkoxy group, and together form a C 1 –C 6 dioxyalkylene ring, and

n denotes 2, 3 or 4,

said process comprising reacting,

a compound represented by general formula (II),

wherein,

n, R 1 , R A and R B are each as described in general formula (I),

with a compound represented by general formula (III),

wherein,

m and Ar are each as described in general formula (I), and

Y denotes a member selected from the group consisting of Cl; Br; I; and O—SO 2 —R C , in which R C represents a phenyl, tolyl, methyl or trifluoromethyl,

said reaction being performed,

optionally in the presence of catalysts,

optionally in a solution, and

optionally at an elevated temperature.

2. The process of claim 1 wherein the compound produced by said process is represented by general formula (I-a),

wherein

n, R 1 , R A and R B have the meaning given in claim 1 ,

said process comprising reacting the compound represented by general formula (II) with a compound represented by general formula (III-a),

3. The process of claim 2 wherein the compound represented by formula (Ia) is selected from the group consisting of 5-alkyl-5′-[4-(5′-alkyl-2,2′-bithien-5-yl)phenyl]-2,2″-bithiophene and 5-alkyl-5″-[4-(5″-alkyl-2,2′:5′,2″-terthien-5-yl)phenyl]-2,2′:5′, 2″-terthiophene, especially 5-decyl-5″-[4-(5″-decyl-2,2′:5′,2″-terthien-5-yl)phenyl]-2,2′:5′, 2″terthiophene, 5-hexyl-5″-[4-(5″-hexyl-2,2′:5′,2″-terthien-5-yl)phenyl]-2,2′:5′, 2″-terthiophene, 5-ethyl-5″-[4-(5″-ethyl-2,2′:5′,2″-terthien-5-yl)phenyl]-2,2′:5′, 2″-terthiophene, 5-decyl-5′-[4-(5′-decyl-2,2′-bithien-5-yl)phenyl]-2,2″-bithiophene, 5-hexyl-5′-[4-(5′-hexyl-2,2′-bithien-5-yl)phenyl]-2,2″-bithiophene and 5-ethyl-5′-[4-(5′-ethyl-2,2′-bithien-5-yl)phenyl]-2,2″-bithiophene.

4. The process of claim 1 wherein R A and R B each denote H.

5. The process of claim 1 wherein the reaction takes place in the presence of at least one catalyst containing a metal selected from the group consisting of subgroup VIII of the periodic table.

6. The process of claim 1 wherein said reaction is performed in the presence of at least one base.

7. The process of claim 1 wherein said reaction is performed in the presence of at least one organic solvent.

8. A process for producing a compound represented by general formula (II),

wherein,

R 1 denotes a member selected from the group consisting of H, linear or branched C 1 –C 20 alkyl groups, linear C 1 –C 20 alkyl groups interrupted by at least one O atom, linear C 1 –C 20 alkyl groups interrupted by at least one S atom, silylene groups, phosphonoyl groups, phosphoryl groups, and C 3 –C 20 alkenyl groups,

R A , R B independently of one another, and independently for each n, are each selected from the group consisting of H, a linear or branched C 1 –C 20 alkyl group, a linear or branched C 1 –C 20 alkyl group interrupted with 1 to 10 oxygen atoms, a C 1 –C 20 alkoxy group, and together form a C 1 –C 6 dioxyalkylene ring, and

n denotes 2, 3 or 4,

said process comprising reacting

a compound represented by general formula (IV),

wherein

R 2 denotes a linear or branched C 1 –C 20 alkyl residue, with a compound represented by general formula (V),

wherein

R A , R B , R 1 and n are as described in formula (II), and

M denotes LiX or MgX, wherein X denotes Cl, Br or I.

9. The process of claim 8 wherein the formula represented by formula (II) is selected from the group consisting of 4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-2-[5′-(10-undecenyl)-2,2′-bithien-5-yl]-1,3,2-dioxaborolane (II-a), 2-(5″-decyl-2,2′:5′,2″-terthien-5-yl)-4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-1,3,2-dioxaborolane (II-b), 4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-2-[5′-hexyl-2,2′-bithien-5-yl]-1,3,2-dioxaborolane (II-c), and 2-(5″-hexyl-2,2′:5′,2″-terthien-5-yl)-4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-1,3,2-dioxaborolane (II-d).

10. The process of claim 1 wherein said compound (II) is prepared by the process of claim 8 .

11. A semi-conductive coating comprising the compound (I) produced by the method of claim 1 .

12. An article of manufacture comprising at least one coating layer comprising the compound (I) of claim 1 , wherein said article of manufacture is selected from the group consisting of active electronic components, light-emitting electronic components, field effect transistors, organic light-emitting diodes, photovoltaic cells, lasers and sensors.

13. A process for producing the article of manufacture of claim 12 comprising:

providing a substrate; and

applying a coating composition comprising the compound (I) of claim 1 to said substrate.

14. The process of claim 13 wherein said coating composition further comprises solvent, and said process further comprises evaporating the solvent from said coating composition after it is applied to said substrate.

15. The process of claim 13 further comprising converting said coating composition into the gaseous phase, and condensing the gaseous phase coating composition to said substrate.

16. The process of claim 13 wherein the application step comprises sputtering said coating composition onto said substrate, and said process further comprises condensing the sputtered coating composition on said substrate.