Four new D-A-π-A metal-free organic sensitizers for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), with [1,2,5]thiadiazolo[3,4-d]pyridazine as internal acceptor, thiophene unit as π-spacer and cyanoacrylate as anchoring electron acceptor, have been synthesized. The donor moiety was introduced into [1,2,5]thiadiazolo[3,4-d]pyridazine by nucleophilic aromatic substitution and Suzuki cross-coupling reactions, allowing design of D-A-π-A sensitizers with the donor attached to the internal heterocyclic acceptor not only by the carbon atom, as it is in a majority of DSSCs, but by the nitrogen atom also. Although low values of power conversion efficiency (PCE) were found, a few important consequences were identified: (i) poor PCE data can be attributed to high electron deficiency of the internal [1,2,5]thiadiazolo[3,4-d]pyridazine acceptor due to lower light harvesting by the dye; (ii) the manner in which the donor was attached to the internal acceptor (by carbon or nitrogen) did not play an essential role in the photovoltaic properties of the dyes; (iii) dyes based on the novel donor 2,3,4,4a,9,9a-hexahydro-1H-1,4-methanocarbazolyl and 9-(p-tolyl)-2,3,4,4a,9,9a-hexahydro-1H- carbazole moieties showed similar photovoltaic properties to dyes based on the well-known 4-(p-tolyl)-1,2,3,3a,4,8b-hexahydrocyclopenta[b]indolyl building block, which opens the door for further optimization potential of new dye families.

A safe and efficient synthesis of 4,7-dibromo[1,2,5]thiadiazolo[3,4-d]pyridazine from the commercial diaminomaleonitrile is reported. Conditions for selective aromatic nucleophilic substitution of one or two bromine atoms by oxygen and nitrogen nucleophiles are found, whereas thiols formed the bis-derivatives only. Buchwald-Hartwig or Ullmann techniques are successful for incorporation of a weak nitrogen base, such as carbazole, into the [1,2,5]thiadiazolo[3,4-d]pyridazine core. The formation of rather stable S…η²-(N=N) bound chains in 4,7-bis(alkylthio)-[1,2,5]thiadiazolo[3,4-d]pyridines makes these compounds promising for the design of liquid crystals.

New fluorescent D-A-D dyes containing 9-(p-tolyl)-2,3,4,4a,9,9a-hexahydro-1H-carbazole as a donor unit and 2,1,3-benzochalcogenadiazoles as an electron-withdrawing group were synthesized. The photoluminescent and electroluminescent properties of novel dyes for fluorescent OLED application were investigated. It was demonstrated that the replacement of lightweight heteroatoms by heavier ones enables the fine tuning of the maximum emission without significantly reducing the luminescence quantum yield. The maximum quantum yield value of 62.6% for derivatives based on 2,1,3-benzoxadiazole (1a) in cyclohexane was achieved. Two devices with the architecture of glass/ITO/PEDOT-PSS/poly-TPD/EML/TPBi/LiF/Al (EML = emitting layer) were fabricated to check the suitability of the synthesized compounds as a single active emission layer in OLED. These OLEDs exhibited clear red electroluminescence of the dyes with the maximum current efficiency of 0.85 Cd/A.

An efficient synthesis of hydrolytically and thermally stable 4,8-dibromobenzo[1,2-d:4,5-d’]bis([1,2,3]thiadiazole) by the bromination of its parent heterocycle is reported. The structure of 4,8-dibromobenzo[1,2-d:4,5-d’]bis([1,2,3]thiadiazole) was confirmed by X-ray analysis. The conditions for the selective aromatic nucleophilic substitution of one bromine atom in this heterocyclic system by nitrogen nucleophiles are found, whereas thiols formed the bis-derivatives only. Suzuki–Miyaura cross-coupling reactions were found to be an effective method for the selective formation of various mono- and di(het)arylated derivatives of strong electron-deficient benzo[1,2-d:4,5-d’]bis([1,2,3]thiadiazole), and Stille coupling can be employed for the preparation of bis-arylated heterocycles, which can be considered as useful building blocks for the synthesis of DSSCs and OLEDs components.

Palladium-catalyzed direct (het)arylation reactions of strongly electron-withdrawing tricyclic benzo[1,2-d:4,5-d′]bis([1,2,3]thiadiazole) and its 4,8-dibromo derivative were studied; the conditions for the selective formation of mono- and bis-aryl derivatives were found. The reaction of 4,8-dibromobenzo[1,2-d:4,5-d′]bis([1,2,3]thiadiazole) with thiophenes in the presence of palladium acetate as a catalyst and potassium pivalate as a base, depending on the conditions used, selectively gave both mono- and bis-thienylated benzo-bis-thiadiazoles in low to moderate yields; arenes were found to be inactive in these reactions. It was discovered that direct C–H arylation of benzo[1,2-d:4,5-d′]bis([1,2,3]thiadiazole with bromo(iodo)arenes and -thiophenes in the presence of Pd(OAc)2 and di-tert-butyl(methyl)phosphonium tetrafluoroborate salt is a powerful tool for the selective formation of 4-mono- and 4,8-di(het)arylated benzo-bis-thiadiazoles. Oxidative double C–H hetarylation of benzo[1,2-d:4,5-d′]bis([1,2,3]thiadiazole with thiophenes in the presence of Pd(OAc)₂ and silver (I) oxide in DMSO was successfully employed to prepare bis-thienylbenzo-bis-thiadiazoles in moderate yields.

Benzo[1,2-d:4,5-d′]bis([1,2,3]thiadiazole) (isoBBT) is a new electron-withdrawing building block that can be used to obtain potentially interesting compounds for the synthesis of OLEDs and organic solar cells components. The electronic structure and delocalization in benzo[1,2-d:4,5-d′]bis([1,2,3]thiadiazole), 4-bromobenzo[1,2-d:4,5-d′]bis([1,2,3]thiadiazole), and 4,8-dibromobenzo[1,2-d:4,5-d′]bis([1,2,3]thiadiazole) were studied using X-ray diffraction analysis and ab initio calculations by EDDB and GIMIC methods and were compared to the corresponding properties of benzo[1,2-c:4,5-c′]bis[1,2,5]thiadiazole (BBT). Calculations at a high level of theory showed that the electron affinity, which determines electron deficiency, of isoBBT was significantly smaller than that of BBT (1.09 vs. 1.90 eV). Incorporation of bromine atoms improves the electrical deficiency of bromobenzo-bis-thiadiazoles nearly without affecting aromaticity, which increases the reactivity of these compounds in aromatic nucleophilic substitution reactions and, on the other hand, does not reduce the ability to undergo cross-coupling reactions. 4-Bromobenzo[1,2-d:4,5-d′]bis([1,2,3]thiadiazole) is an attractive object for the synthesis of monosubstituted isoBBT compounds. The goal to find conditions for the selective substitution of hydrogen or bromine atoms at position 4 in order to obtain compounds containing a (het)aryl group in this position and to use the remaining unsubstituted hydrogen or bromine atoms to obtain unsymmetrically substituted isoBBT derivatives, potentially interesting compounds for organic photovoltaic components, was not set before. Nucleophilic aromatic and cross-coupling reactions, along with palladium-catalyzed C-H direct arylation reactions for 4-bromobenzo[1,2-d:4,5-d′]bis([1,2,3]thiadiazole), were studied and selective conditions for the synthesis of monoarylated derivatives were found. The observed features of the structure and reactivity of isoBBT derivatives may be useful for building organic semiconductor-based devices.