Telephone +44(0)1284 728659
Email [email protected]
Continuous flow synthesis and microwave-assisted synthesis represent two sustainable and efficient ways for the polymer production aligned with green chemistry principles, compared to conventional polymer synthesis. Here we present the case study of poly(4,4-dioctyldithieno(3,2-b:2′,3′-d)silole)-2,6-diyl-alt-(2,1,3-benzothiadiazole)-4,7-diyl (PSBTBT), a low band gap electron-donating polymer for organic photovoltaics (OPVs). The PSBTBT Stille cross-coupling polymerization conditions were optimized by comparing different synthetic methods: conventional, flow and microwave. To assess the impact of the different synthetic methods, detailed molecular and spectroscopic characterization, highlighting both the differences and similarities within the methodologies, was performed by several techniques, such as GPC, UV-Vis, PL, and NMR.