New convenient synthesis of highly regioregular poly(3-octylthiophene) based on the Suzuki coupling reaction

In this work, we present a new convenient synthesis leading to a highly regioregular poly(3-octylthiophene) (POT). The stable polymerizable precursor, bearing an iodo and a boronic ester derivative in the 2 and 5 positions, respectively, was obtained in two steps from 3-octylthiophene. Its polymerization, in the presence of palladium(II) acetate, gave a POT containing 96–97% of head—tail to head—tail (HT—HT) couplings.