Recent advances in polythiophene synthesis by palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions

The synthesis of well-defined macromolecules using polymerization processes is a challenging and important task in organic chemistry. Palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions represent an important tool in the chemist's armory, combining high efficiency, low catalyst loadings, high tolerance to a variety of functional groups and solvents and moderate reaction temperatures (25-100°C). The present review is an account of the recent literature involving Pd-catalyzed, cross-coupling based polymerizations for the synthesis of polythiophenes, as well as the use of this and related compounds in polymer and material science. © 2011 Bentham Science Publishers.