Synthesis, photophysical and electrochemical properties of a new star-shaped molecule with a 1,3,5-triethynylbenzene core and diketopyrrolopyrrole arms

Abstract

A new star-shaped small molecule BDPP-1 based on 1,3,5-triethynylbenzene as a core and diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) as rigid arms have been successfully designed and synthesized. The thermal stability, photophysical and electrochemical properties were explored. The synthesized star-shaped small molecule BDPP-1 exhibited excellent solubility, high thermal stability, broad and strong absorption, narrow band gap and appropriate molecular levels. Moreover, the photoinduced charge separation process between the synthesized donor and acceptor PC₆₁BM was evaluated by the fluorescence quenching experiment, revealing that the donor material BDPP-1 possessed efficient photoinduced charge separation performance. These detailed investigations on the structure-property relationship of the novel star-shaped molecule revealed that BDPP-1 is a prospective candidate as a donor material for organic photovoltaic materials.