Upgrading the chemistry of π-conjugated polymers toward more sustainable materials

Abstract

While organic electronics are ubiquitous in our daily lives, studies dealing with their environmental impact or their sustainability are scarce. Indeed, their preparation often requires hazardous conditions along with multi-step synthesis and purification reactions in order for them to be appropriately fabricated from refined petroleum products. Nevertheless, in the past decade, there have been numerous alternative synthesis pathways trying to take into account the amount of residual transition metals, side products and the number of steps required for the preparation of π-conjugated polymers. This review manuscript not only provides such alternative routes to π-conjugated polymers but also puts emphasis on the extraordinary wealth of monomers that can be extracted or converted from biomass and used in the formation of sp²-carbon based (co)polymers.