Ho, Lai Ying. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 213-238). / Abstract also in Chinese. / Abstract --- p.i / Abstract in Chinese (摘要） --- p.iv / Acknowledgements --- p.vii / List of abbreviations --- p.ix / Table of contents --- p.xiv / Chapter Chapter One: --- General Introduction_ --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Neuroblastoma --- p.2 / Chapter 1.1.1 --- An overview on neuroblastoma --- p.2 / Chapter 1.1.2 --- Classification of neuroblastoma --- p.4 / Chapter 1.1.3 --- Epidemiology of neuroblastoma --- p.7 / Chapter 1.1.4 --- Clinical manifestation of neuroblastoma --- p.10 / Chapter 1.1.5 --- Diagnosis of neuroblastoma --- p.10 / Chapter 1.1.6 --- Conventional therapy of neuroblastoma --- p.12 / Chapter 1.1.7 --- Novel treatments of neuroblastoma --- p.14 / Chapter 1.2 --- Conjugated linolenic acid (CLN) --- p.16 / Chapter 1.2.1 --- An overview of polyunsaturated fatty acids and conjugated fatty acids --- p.16 / Chapter 1.2.2 --- Chemical structure and physical properties of CLNs --- p.18 / Chapter 1.2.3 --- Natural occurrence of CLNs --- p.21 / Chapter 1.2.4 --- Synthesis of CLNs --- p.22 / Chapter 1.2.5 --- Metabolism and pharmacokinetics of CLNs --- p.24 / Chapter 1.2.6 --- Major biological and pharmacological activities of CLNs --- p.25 / Chapter 1.2.6.1 --- Hypolipidemic and anti-obese effects --- p.25 / Chapter 1.2.6.2 --- Anti-cancer effects --- p.27 / Chapter 1.2.6.2.1 --- Anti-proliferation --- p.27 / Chapter 1.2.6.2.2 --- Chemoprevention --- p.28 / Chapter 1.2.6.2.3 --- Apoptosis-inducing --- p.28 / Chapter 1.3 --- Aims and scope of the study --- p.31 / Chapter Chapter Two: --- Materials and Methods_ --- p.34 / Chapter 2.1 --- Materials --- p.35 / Chapter 2.1.1 --- Animals --- p.35 / Chapter 2.1.2 --- Cell lines --- p.35 / Chapter 2.1.3 --- "Cell culture medium, buffers and other reagents" --- p.37 / Chapter 2.1.4 --- Reagents for DNA extraction --- p.46 / Chapter 2.1.5 --- Reagents for gel electrophoresis of nucleic acids --- p.47 / Chapter 2.1.6 --- Reagents and buffers for flow cytometry --- p.49 / Chapter 2.1.7 --- Reagents and buffers for measuring caspase activity --- p.50 / Chapter 2.1.8 --- Reagents for Hoechst staining --- p.53 / Chapter 2.1.9 --- Reagents and buffers for RNA extraction --- p.53 / Chapter 2.1.10 --- Reagents and buffers for DNA digestion --- p.54 / Chapter 2.1.11 --- Reagents and buffers for reverse transcription --- p.55 / Chapter 2.1.12 --- Reagents for real-time polymerase chain reaction --- p.57 / Chapter 2.1.13 --- Reagents and buffers for Western blotting --- p.59 / Chapter 2.2 --- Methods --- p.64 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- Culture of cell lines --- p.64 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- Preparation of NIH-3T3 conditioned medium --- p.65 / Chapter 2.2.3 --- Determination of cell viability --- p.65 / Chapter 2.2.4 --- Determination of cell proliferation by tritiated thymidine incorporation assay --- p.66 / Chapter 2.2.5 --- Cytotoxicity test of CLNs on murine peritoneal macrophages --- p.67 / Chapter 2.2.6 --- Cytotoxicity test of CLNs on murine bone marrow cells --- p.68 / Chapter 2.2.7 --- Cytotoxicity test of CLNs on murine splenocytes --- p.68 / Chapter 2.2.8 --- Cytotoxicity tests of CLNs on human peripheral blood mononuclear cells --- p.69 / Chapter 2.2.9 --- Carboxyfluorescein diacetate succinimidyl ester (CFSE) staining analyzed by flow cytometry --- p.69 / Chapter 2.2.10 --- Determination of colony forming ability --- p.70 / Chapter 2.2.11 --- Determination of cell invasiveness --- p.70 / Chapter 2.2.12 --- In vivo tumorigenicity assay --- p.71 / Chapter 2.2.13 --- Analysis of cell cycle profile/ DNA content by flow cytometry --- p.72 / Chapter 2.1.14 --- Measurements of apoptosis --- p.72 / Chapter 2.1.15 --- Measurements of differentiation --- p.77 / Chapter 2.1.16 --- Gene expression study --- p.78 / Chapter 2.2.17 --- Protein expression study --- p.81 / Chapter 2.2.18 --- Statistical Analysis --- p.84 / Chapter Chapter Three: --- Anti-proliferative Effect of CLN Isomers on Human Neuroblastoma cells --- p.86 / Chapter 3.1 --- Introduction --- p.87 / Chapter 3.2 --- Results --- p.89 / Chapter 3.2.1 --- Anti-proliferative effect of CLN isomers on various human neuroblastoma cell lines in vitro --- p.89 / Chapter 3.2.2 --- Direct cytotoxic effect of jacaric acid on neuroblastoma LA-N-1 cells in vitro --- p.100 / Chapter 3.2.3 --- Cytotoxicity of jacaric acid on primary murine cells and human normal cell lines --- p.103 / Chapter 3.2.4 --- Kinetic and reversibility studies of the anti-proliferative effect of jacaric acid on LA-N-1 cells --- p.106 / Chapter 3.2.5 --- Synergistic anti-proliferative effect of jacaric acid with daidzein and retinoic acid on LA-N-1 cells in vitro --- p.110 / Chapter 3.2.6 --- Modulatory effect of jacaric acid on the number of cell division in LA-N-1 cells --- p.113 / Chapter 3.2.7 --- Effect of jacaric acid on the cell cycle profile of LA-N-1 cells --- p.115 / Chapter 3.2.8 --- Effect of jacaric acid on the invasiveness of LA-N-1 cells --- p.118 / Chapter 3.2.9 --- Effect of jacaric acid on the colony forming ability of LA-N-1 cells in soft agar --- p.120 / Chapter 3.2.10 --- Effect of jacaric acid on the in vivo tumorigenicity of the LA-N-1 cells --- p.122 / Chapter 3.3 --- Discussion --- p.124 / Chapter Chapter Four: --- Apoptosis- and Differentiation-inducing Effects of Jacaric Acid on Human Neuroblastoma Cells --- p.133 / Chapter 4.1 --- Introduction --- p.134 / Chapter 4.2 --- Results --- p.138 / Chapter 4.2.1 --- Induction of DNA fragmentation and apoptotic ultrastructural changes in LA-N-1 cells by jacaric acid --- p.138 / Chapter 4.2.2 --- Induction of phosphatidylserine externalization by jacaric acid in human neuroblastoma cells as detected by Annexin V-GFP/ PI dual staining --- p.142 / Chapter 4.2.3 --- Effect of jacaric acid on the mitochondrial membrane potential in human neuroblastoma cells --- p.146 / Chapter 4.2.4 --- Effect of jacaric acid on the caspase-3 activity in LA-N-1 cells --- p.150 / Chapter 4.2.5 --- Effect of jacaric acid on the reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation in human neuroblastoma cells --- p.153 / Chapter 4.2.6 --- Morphological changes induced by jacaric acid in SH-SY5Y cells --- p.158 / Chapter 4.3 --- Discussion --- p.162 / Chapter Chapter Five: --- Mechanistic Studies of Anti-proliferative Effect of Jacaric Acid on Human Neuroblastoma Cells --- p.171 / Chapter 5.1 --- Introduction --- p.172 / Chapter 5.2 --- Results --- p.178 / Chapter 5.2.1 --- Effect of antioxidant a-tocopherol on the anti-proliferative effect of jacaric acid on LA-N-1 cells --- p.178 / Chapter 5.2.2 --- Effect of caspase inhibitors on the anti-proliferative effect of jacaric acid on LA-N-1 cells --- p.180 / Chapter 5.2.3 --- Jacaric acid modulated the mRNA expression of N-myc and other related transcription factors in LA-N-1 cells --- p.182 / Chapter 5.2.4 --- Jacaric acid modulated the protein expression of N-myc --- p.186 / Chapter 5.2.5 --- Jacaric acid modulated the mRNA expression of apoptosis-associated genes --- p.188 / Chapter 5.3 --- Discussion --- p.191 / Chapter Chapter Six: --- Conclusions and Future Perspectives --- p.202 / References --- p.212

ABSTRACT Light emitting diodes of non-fully conjugated coil-like homopolymers and fully conjugated rigid-rod homopolymers with electron withdrawing or donating group were studied. A series of Poly[2,2-(m-2-X-phenylene)-4-4¡A-hexafluoroisopropane- bibenzoxazoles] (6F-PBO-X, with X = amine, hydrogen and nitro) and poly-p-(2-X- phenylene)-benzobisoxazole (PBO-X, with X = amine, hydrogen and nitro) were synthesized for light emitting diode applications to observe electroluminescence emission affected by electron withdrawing or donating group. All polymers were fabricated identically to form bi-layer light emitting diodes. In the devices, poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonite)(PEDOT:PSS) was applied to be a hole transport layer; indium tin oxide (ITO) was the anode; and aluminum was the cathode. Devices of the non-fully conjugated coli-like polymers (6F-PBO-X) and the fully conjugated rigid-rod polymers (PBO-X) all showed threshold voltage about 4 V. In the electroluminescence (EL) spectrum, the maximum intensity of non-fully conjugated polymer (6F-PBO-X) with amine (-NH2), hydrogen (-H) or nitro (-NO2) functional group was at 499 nm, 505 nm and 515 nm, respectively, showing a 20 nm wavelength shift. From ¡VNH2, -H and ¡VNO2 groups, their Commission International de l`Eclairage (C. I. E.) coordinates were (0.30, 0.46), (0.34, 0.45) and (0.40, 0.46), respectively. The EL maximum intensity for fully conjugated rigid-rod polymer PBO-X was at 521 nm (-NH2) and 474 nm (-NO2) showing a 50 nm wavelength shift. Their C. I. E. coordinates were (0.42, 0.45) and (0.25, 0.38), respectively. This is attributed to the fully conjugated, collinear, coplanar, rigid-rod polymers (PBO-X) backbone readily affected by the push-pull functional groups showing a large red shift.

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(工学) / 甲第19406号 / 工博第4122号 / 新制||工||1635(附属図書館) / 32431 / 京都大学大学院工学研究科高分子化学専攻 / (主査)教授 中條 善樹, 教授 澤本 光男, 教授 赤木 和夫 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Philosophy (Engineering) / Kyoto University / DFAM

Highly fluorescent conjugated polymers (CPs) are an important class of biomaterials used for various biological applications including labelling, sensing, and delivery of biological substances. Synthetic versatility and tunable emission make CPs a superior class of biomaterials. Understanding the structure-function relationship of CPs plays a vital role in designing high performing biomaterials. The cationic CPs are self-assembled to conjugated polymer nanoparticles (CPNs) in an aqueous environment due to their amphiphilicity. The physical and biophysical properties of CPNs are highly dependent on the chemical functionality and backbone structure of CPs. Modulation of the surface property and backbone structure of CPNs play an important role for efficient internalization of CPNs into cells. The goal of this dissertation is to understand the structure function relationship of CPNs in an aqueous environment and the change in their photo physical properties upon the self-assembly of CPNs with different backbone structure upon complexation with biologically significant polysaccharides and cell membrane. This work presents the self-assembly of a set of four cationic CPs with different connectivity and backbone structure upon complexation with a linear polyanion hyaluronic acid (HA). The study of photo physical properties changes upon the complexation with series of Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) provides more insight about how the self-assembly behavior of cationic CPs changes upon the exposure to negatively charged polysaccharides. The understanding of the self-assembly of CPNs with negatively charged biologically important macromolecules under in vitro conditions can give us an idea of photophysical property changes of CPNs during the treatment of CPNs in the cellular environment. The study of the interaction of CPNs with cell membranes using scanning ion conductance microscopy (SICM)-based topography, potential mapping, and confocal microscopy imaging is presented. CPNs are able to induce transient pore like feature formation on the cell membrane during the cellular internalization process. A comparative study of cellular labelling and delivery of siRNA of five CPNs with guanidine motif is presented. The subcellular localization and delivery of siRNA were dependent on the side chain hydrophilicity. The CPNs fabricated with hydrophilic aminoethoxyethanol possesses excellent cellular imaging with higher siRNA delivery.

The present thesis deals with a theoretical study of electronic structures in -conjugated molecular materials with focus on their application in organic elec-tronics. We also discuss a modified and efficient symmetrized DMRG algorithm for studying excited states in these systems. In recent times, organic conjugated systems have emerged as potential candidates in a wide range of fascinating fields by virtue of their tunable electronic properties, easy processability and low cost. Tunability in the electronic and optical properties primarily are centered on the or-dering and nature of the low-lying excited states. Probing these important excited states also demands development of efficient and adaptable techniques. Chapter 1 provides a basic overview of conjugated organic polymers which have been utilized over decades in diverse fields as in organic light emitting diodes (OLED), organic solar cells (OSC) and non-linear optical (NLO) devices. These systems also contribute significantly to theoretical understanding as they pro vide important insights of one and quasi-one dimensional systems. In this chapter, we have given basic description of the electronic processes in OLED and OSC along with a brief theoretical description of -conjugated organic systems. Chapter 2 gives an account of the numerical techniques which are necessary for the study of low-dimensional strongly correlated systems like -conjugated sys-tems. For this purpose, effective low-energy model Hamiltonians viz. Huckel,¨ Hubbard and Pariser-Parr-Pople Hamiltonians are discussed. Exact diagonalization technique within the diagrammatic valence bond (DVB) basis and density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) technique are discussed in details. We have also given brief accounts of the methods employed to study real-time dynamics. A short description of different computational techniques for the study of NLO properties in -conjugated systems is also provided. Engineering the position of the lowest triplet state (T1) relative to the first excited singlet state (S1) is of great importance in improving the efficiencies of organic light emitting diodes and organic photovoltaic cells. In chapter 3, we have carried out model exact calculations of substituted polyene chains to understand the fac-tors that affect the energy gap between S1 and T1. The factors studied are backbone dimerization, different donor-acceptor substitutions and twisted backbone geome-try. The largest system studied is an eighteen carbon polyene which spans a Hilbert space of about 991 million in the triplet subspace. We show that for reverse inter-system crossing (RISC) process, the best choice involves substituting all carbon sites on one half of the polyene with donors and the other half with acceptors. Singlet fission (SF) is a potential pathway for significant enhancement of efficiency in OSC. In chapter 4, we study singlet fission in a pair of polyene molecules in two different stacking arrangements employing exact many-body wave packet dy-namics. In the non-interacting model, SF is absent. The individual molecules are treated within Hubbard and Pariser-Parr-Pople (PPP) models and the interac-tion between them involves transfer terms, intersite electron repulsions and site-charge—bond-charge repulsion terms. Initial wave packet is construc ted from ex-cited singlet state of one molecule and ground state of the other. Time develop-ment of this wave packet under the influence of intermolecular interactions is fol-lowed within the Schrodinger¨ picture by an efficient predictor-corrector scheme. In unsubstituted Hubbard and PPP chains, 21A state leads to significant SF yield while the 11B state gives negligible fission yield. On substitution by donor-acceptor groups of moderate strength, the lowest excited state will have sufficient 2 1A char-acter and hence gives significant SF yield. Because of rapid internal c onversion, the nature of the lowest excited singlet will determine the SF contribution to OSC effi - ciency. Furthermore, we find the fission yield depends considerably on th e stacking arrangement of the polyene molecules. In chapter 5, we have given an account of a new modified algorithm for symmetry adaptation within symmetrized density matrix renormalization group (SDMRG) technique. SDMRG technique has been an efficient method for studying low-lying eigenstates in one and quasi-one dimensional electronic systems. However, SDMRG method until now, had bottlenecks involving construction of linearly in-dependent symmetry adapted basis states as the symmetry matrices in the DMRG basis were not sparse. Our modified algorithm overcomes this bottleneck. T he new method incorporates end-to-end interchange symmetry (C2), electron-hole symmetry (J) and parity or spin-flip symmetry (P) in these calculations. The one-to-one correspondence between direct-product basis states in the DMRG Hilbert space for these symmetry operations renders the symmetry matrices in the new ba-sis with maximum sparseness, just one non-zero matrix element per row. Using methods similar to those employed in exact diagonalization technique for Pariser-Parr-Pople (PPP) models, developed in the eighties, it is possible to construct or-thogonal SDMRG basis states while bypassing the slow step of Gram-Schmidt orthonormalization procedure. The method together with the PPP model which incorporates long-range electronic correlations is employed to study the correlated excited states of 1,12-benzoperylene. In chapter 6, we have studied the correlated excited states of coronene and ova-lene within Pariser-Parr-Pople (PPP) model employing symmetry adapted density matrix renormalization group technique. These polynuclear aromatic hydrocar-bons can be considered as graphene nanoflakes and study of their ele ctronic struc-tures will shed light on the electron correlation effects in these finite-size gr aphene analogues. The electron correlation effect usually diminishes on going from one-dimensional to higher-dimensional systems, yet, it is significant within these fin ite-size graphene derivatives where it depends on the molecular topology. We have characterized these low-lying energy states by calculating bond orders, spin den-sities in the lowest triplet state and two-photon absorption cross-sections for low-lying two-photon states. vi

Organic solar cells offer the possibility for lightweight, flexible, and inexpensive photovoltaic devices. This thesis studies the physics of a wide range of materials designed for use in organic solar cells. The materials investigated include conjugated polymers, conjugated dendrimers, and inorganic nanocrystals. The materials studied in this thesis fall into five categories: conjugated polymers blended with a buckminsterfullerene derivative PCBM, nanocrystals synthesised in a conjugated polymer matrix, conjugated polymers designed for intramolecular charge separation, conjugated dendrimers blended with PCBM, and nanocrystals synthesised in a matrix of conjugated small molecules or dendrimers. Conjugated polymers blended with PCBM have been extensively studied for photovoltaic applications, and hence form an ideal test bed for new experiments. In this thesis this blend was used to achieve the first pulsed electrically detected magnetic resonance experiments on organic solar cells. Nanocrystals are attractive for photovoltaics because it is possible to tune their band gap across the solar spectrum. In this thesis a one-pot synthesis is used to grow PbS and CdS nanocrystals in conjugated polymers, soluble small molecules, and dendrimers, and characterisation is performed on these composites. Previous work on dendrimer: nanocrystal composites has been limited to non-conjugated molecules, and the synthesis developed in this thesis extends this work to a conjugated oligomer and a conjugated dendrimer. This synthesis can potentially be extended to a variety of conjugated soluble small molecule: nanocrystal and dendrimer: nanocrystal systems. Conjugated dendrimers have been successfully employed in organic light emitting diodes, and in this thesis they are applied to organic solar cells. Materials based on fluorene and cyanine dye cores show excellent absorption tunability across the solar spectrum. A set of electronically asymetric polymers designed for intramolecular charge separation were investigated. Quenching of the luminescence was observed, and light induced electron paramagnetic resonance measurements revealed that photoexcitation led to approximately equal numbers of positive polarons and nitro centred radical anions. This indicates that charge separation is occurring in these molecules.

This thesis is concerned with the photophysical and nonlinear optical responses, and applications of a set of conjugated polymers and small molecules in the visible and near-IR spectral regions. Poly(phenylene ethynylene) PPE polymers were substituted with conjugated side-arms in a cruciform fashion to determine the impacts of electronic coupling on the one-photon (1PA), two-photon (2PA), and excited state absorption (ESA) properties of the co-polymer system. The cruciform-like PPEs showed significant changes in their nonlinear and phophysical behavior relative to their linear models, including shifts and splittings of the 1PA bands due to moderate mixing of the lowest singlet excited states, an increase in the 2PA cross section (δ) values, and an increase in the yield of triplet excited-state species. The cruciform-like PPE polymers exhibited effective optical pulse suppression of femtosecond and nanosecond laser pulses over a broad spectral range of ~200 nm in the visible and near-IR. The suppression capability of the cruciform-like PPEs exceeded the best reported value for alkyl-substituted PPE polymers. The spectroscopic effects due to conjugation length, structural configuration, and intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) are discussed for a family of bent donor-acceptor-donor (D-A-D) -type conjugated oligomers, which incorporate electron-rich triarylamine donors and electron-deficient triarylborane acceptor units into its conjugated structure. These organoborane oligomers are highly fluorescent and exhibit strong 2PA in the visible region with δ values as large as 1410 GM, as well as overlapping ESA bands attributed to singlet-singlet and triplet-triplet absorption. Saturation of the molar absorptivity, ε, and δ was observed at less than two repeat monomer units due to conformational disorder in the oligomer with increasing length. Positive solvatochromism of fluorescence with solvent shifts as large as ~70 nm was observed as a result of ICT from the arylamine donors to boryl-centered acceptor sites. The excited-state dynamics also show sensitivity to the solvent environment. Experimental findings suggest that these organoborane oligomers may have potential use as nonlinear material for optical power limiting (OPL) and two-photon sensing applications. The spectral properties of two bis-donor chromophores, (bis(diarylamino)biphenyl (TPD) and distyrylthiophene (DST), were investigated with and without the presence of AgNPs in order to better understand the local-field enhancement and subsequent effects on the photophysics and nonlinear behavior of 2PA dyes. While little changes were observed in the excited-state dynamics, measurements of nanoparticle aggregate-dye composite solutions with TPD revealed a 1.6-enhancement in the two-photon excited fluorescence signal. OPL measurements of nanosecond laser pulses at 532 nm revealed a reduction in threshold energy by a factor of 2 in solutions containing TPD and AgNP aggregates, relative to solutions of TPD alone. DST shows exceptional solubility (>1 M) in several organic solvents and exhibits a 2PA spectrum that overlaps well with its singlet-singlet and triplet-triplet ESA bands. Consequently, DST exhibits effective optical limiting of nanosecond laser pulses through two-photon induced excited-state absorption over a broad spectral range of approximately 200 nm in the red and near-IR.

Applications of conjugated polymer (CPs) in optoelectronic devices are critically depend on nature of thin film morphology. In thin film of CPs, the distribution of conjugation length is highly heterogeneous because of conformational defects, distortions of polymer chain and aggregates. A greater understanding of the self-assembly properties of polymer in solution, in particular control over aggregation leads to richer description of electronic properties and hence reproducible fabrication of thin film devices. Recently, chiral CPs have attracted profound interest because of their promising chiroptical properties in thin films and easy control over the selective agglomeration process. In this thesis, we have investigated the role of chiral side-chains on a series of thiophene diketopyrrolopyrrole (TDPP)-benzodithiophene (BDT) based copolymers. Chiral 3,7-dimethyloctyl chain was introduced as an asymmetric chain to incorporate chirality on one of the repeating unit (TDPP) of copolymers. Two polymers with side-chains of identical chirality (S),(S)-PTDPP-BDT; (R),(R)-PTDPP-BDT and a third polymer with similar side-chains of opposite chirality (R),(S)-PTDPP-BDT were synthesized. The chiroptical properties were investigated by UV-visible and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy. Figure 1: The structure of the TDPP-BDT copolymers. The copolymers dissolved in a good solvent (e.g. chloroform, chlorobenzene) in which polymers adopts random coil conformation, no chiral response has been observed. However, a critical addition of non-solvent (methanol), the copolymers stack in a chiral fashion and leads to typical bisignate Cotton effects. It is noteworthy that the two polymers, (S),(S)-PTDPP-BDT and (R),(R)-PTDPP-BDT exhibiting a nearly ideal mirror-image relationship in CD spectra (Figure 2a) whereas the (R),(S)-PTDPP-BDT lacks chiropticity even with the addition of methanol. The aggregation induced CD phenomena are dependent on the temperature of solution and do not exhibit reversibility in a heating-cooling cycle. Figure 2: (a) The mirror image Cotton effects of (S),(S)-PTDPP-BDT and (R),(R)-PTDPP-BDT (b) No CD signal was observed for the (R),(S)-PTDPP-BDT polymer. Figure 3: The variation of (a) UV-vis and (b) CD spectra of (R),(R)-PTDPP-BDT polymer with thickness of the solid film. To investigate the role of thickness and annealing temperature on optical and chiroptical properties of polymer films, thin films were prepared using drop-casting method from a solution of chlorobenzene. Both the polymer showed gradual enhancement of CD signal with the increase of film thickness but we did not see any such order with temperature (Figure 3). Figure 4: The morphology observed for the film by (a) AFM; (b); (c) FESEM. The thin film morphology of polymers is characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) (Figure 4). AFM studies show the polymer molecules self-assembled and formed interconnected nanofibers. Whereas FESEM images clearly revealed that, the nanofibers of polymers are predominantly stack in a chiral fashion and mimic a one-handed helix which leads to bisignate Cotton effects. The (S),(S)-PTDPP-BDT and (R),(R)-PTDPP-BDT form fibers with opposite handedness whereas (R),(S)-PTDPP-BDT do not have such preferred handedness. The research described in this thesis aims to explore the role of chiral side-chains to impose chiral stacking and hence resulting chiral expression. Chirality in this class of polymers may endows them promising optoelectronic properties. (For figures pl see the abstract pdf file)

Un nouveau domaine de recherche a vu le jour à la fin du XXe siècle, celui de l’électronique organique provenant de l’union des propriétés de l’électronique avec celles des matériaux semiconducteurs organiques. Les principaux avantages technologiques des matériaux organiques proviennent de leur facilité de mise en œuvre (par exemple :l’impression à pression et température ambiantes) et de leur flexibilité mécanique en comparaison au silicium qui est le matériau semiconducteur le plus utilisé au monde. En raison de ces avantages, de nombreuses perspectives d’applications ont été envisagées telles que les écrans flexibles, l’éclairage à partir de grandes surfaces ou encore les cellules photovoltaïques flexibles. Les performances des semiconducteurs organiques sont actuellement moins bonnes que celles du silicium, mais ont fait des progrès spectaculaires depuis ces dernières années. Les performances des semiconducteurs organiques dépendent de l’efficacité avec laquelle les charges se déplacent dans les matériaux π-conjugués ;le paramètre clé qui caractérise le transport de charges est la mobilité, µ. En raison de l’extraordinaire diversité de structures moléculaires accessibles par la synthèse organique, les performances peuvent espérer un jour approcher celles du silicium, car il n’existe à ce jour pas de limite supérieure imposée à la mobilité des charges dans les matériaux organiques. Dans ce contexte, la contribution des chimistes consiste à développer de nouvelles molécules et macromolécules organiques donnant lieu à des matériaux aux performances toujours accrues. Un aspect important à améliorer est la dimensionnalité du transport de charges qui est comprise entre 1 et 3. En effet, plus celle-ci est faible, plus le transport de charges sera sensible aux défauts. <p><p>Au cours du présent travail, nous nous sommes intéressés à l’amélioration du transport de charges en augmentant la dimensionnalité de ce dernier. Cette approche est basée sur les études théoriques du Dr Antoine Van Vooren relevant du couplage électronique par un pont covalent, mais non conjugué entre des systèmes π tels que les oligothiophènes. En effet, selon ces travaux, le couplage électronique entre deux systèmes π est plus important lorsqu’ils sont reliés par un pont éthylène que lorsqu’ils sont isolés. Le pont permet dès lors le transport de charges dans une nouvelle dimension, favorisant ainsi le transport de charges. L’objectif principal de cette thèse consiste à réaliser la synthèse d’oligo- et polythiophènes pontés par des liens éthylènes et d’en étudier les propriétés afin de contribuer à la démonstration expérimentale qu’un pont covalent entre systèmes π aide au transfert de charges. L’étude a porté sur deux systèmes :le système 1 dans lequel le noyau aromatique est un 2,2’:5’,2’’:5’’,2’’’-quaterthiophène et le système 2 dans lequel le noyau aromatique est un 2,5-bis(thiophèn-2-yl)thiéno[3,2-b]thiophène. Les dimères D1 et D2, servant de systèmes modèles, sont étudiés dans le deuxième chapitre tandis que les polymères P1 et P2, permettant de conclure sur l’effet du pont, sont étudiés dans le chapitre trois. <p><p>Une stratégie de synthèse menant au dimère D1, à l’échelle du gramme, a été développée et les quantités recueillies ont permis d’étudier les propriétés de ce dimère. Cependant, nous n’avons pas pu obtenir de monocristaux D1, faillant ainsi à l’étude de la conformation du pont. Une stratégie de synthèse menant au dimère D2 a été développée bien que les quantités recueillies fussent faibles. Le peu de dimère D2 obtenu rendit l’étude des propriétés de ce dernier compliquée et lacunaire. Suite à l’absence d’information sur la conformation du pont des systèmes modèles, d’autres systèmes pontés, présentant une structure chimique proche, de celle des dimères ont été développés. L’efficacité des voies de synthèse imaginées pour obtenir ces composés ainsi que leurs capacités à cristalliser ont permis d’étudier la conformation du pont de ces nouveaux systèmes pontés. Nous avons pu en conclure que de faibles changements de la structure chimique engendrent des changements significatifs sur la structure cristalline ;rendant difficile la prédiction des structures cristallines des molécules cibles. <p><p>Une voie de synthèse menant au polymère P1 a été développée par couplage de Stille en guise de polymérisation, suite à d’infructueux essais via le couplage de Yamamoto. Les quantités recueillies ont permis d’étudier les propriétés de ce polymère. Nous avons ainsi pu constater que le polymère P1 présente un large domaine de stabilité thermique, mais qu’il est complètement amorphe. Néanmoins, le niveau de la HOMO fait de lui un bon candidat pour le transport de trous. Le polymère P2 a été synthétisé selon la même voie de synthèse et nous avons pu observer les mêmes propriétés que celles du polymère P1.<p><p>L’analyse des propriétés spectroscopiques des polymères P1 et P2 ne nous a pas apporté de preuve de la délocalisation des charges le long de la chaine de polymère. En effet, nous avons mis en évidence un effet d’agrégation et un effet de couplage excitonique des polymères qui a pour conséquence de modifier les propriétés caractéristiques des spectres d’absorption et d’émission dans le domaine UV-vis. Nous avons ensuite étudié leurs propriétés de transport de charges dans des transistors. Cependant, les résultats furent décevants en raison de l’absence d’un ordre cristallin au sein des polymères, ceci indépendamment de la méthode de déposition utilisée. Au final, nous n’avons pas de preuve définitive de l’effet du pont sur le transport de charges. Nous espérons que les tentatives de cristallisation des polymères porteront leurs fruits afin qu’une conclusion sur l’effet du pont éthylène entre deux systèmes π puisse être tirée dans un avenir proche. <p> / Doctorat en Sciences / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

The π-conjugated organic and polymeric semiconducting materials have attracted much attention in the past years due to their significant potential in applications to electronic and optoelectronic devices including organic field-effect transistors (OFETs), organic photovoltaics (OPVs), and organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), etc. Yet, organic and polymeric semiconductors still have challenges associated with their relatively low charge carrier (hole and electron) transport mobilities and ambient stability in OFET applications. This dissertation discusses the molecular engineering on backbones and side-chains of π-conjugated semiconducting polymers to enhance the hole and electron field-effect mobilities. Three donor-acceptor copolymers, the hole transport (p-type) poly(hexathiophene-co-benzo- thiazole) (PBT6), the hole transport poly(thiophenes-benzothiadiazole-thiophenes-diketopyrrolo- pyrrole) (pTBTD), and the electron transport (n-type) poly(dithieno-diketopyrrolopyrrole-bithiazole) (PDBTz) have been developed. Besides, the effect of polymer side chains on polymer solution-processability and charge carrier transport properties was systematically investigated: a side chain 5-decylheptadecyl having the branching position remote from the polymer backbone merges the advantages of the improved solubility from traditional branched side chains in which the branch chains are close to polymer backbone and the effective π-π intermolecular interactions commonly associated with linear side chains. This indicates the potential of side chain engineering to facilitate the charge carrier transport performance of organic and polymeric semiconductors. Additionally, PDBTz solution-processing to OFETs based on non-halogenated solvents (xylenes and tetralin) was studied. The resultant thin-film OFET devices based on non-halogenated solvents exhibited similar film morphology and field-effect electron mobilities as the counterparts based on halogenated solvents, indicative of the feasibility of developing high mobility OFET devices through more environmentally-benign processing.