Naphthodithiophenes as building units for small molecules to polymers; a case study for in-depth understanding of structure–property relationships in organic semiconductors

Abstract

In this Feature Article, we report a family of organic semiconductors based on isomeric naphthodithiophenes (NDTs). The small-molecule- and polymer-based organic semiconductors exhibit field-effect mobilities as high as 1.5 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ and 0.77 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹, respectively, revealing that NDTs are useful building units for organic semiconductors. We also highlight their structure–property relationships in depth by focusing on the HOMO geometry as well as the packing structure, which provide a clear understanding of how the core structures influence the properties of the resulting materials and thus provide new insight into the design of high-performance organic semiconductors.