Monoliths of semiconducting block copolymers by magnetic alignment.

Achieving highly ordered and aligned assemblies of organic semiconductors is a persistent challenge for improving the performance of organic electronics. This is an acute problem in macromolecular systems where slow kinetics and long-range disorder prevail, thus making the fabrication of high-performance large-area semiconducting polymer films a nontrivial venture. Here, we demonstrate that the anisotropic nature of semiconducting chromophores can be effectively leveraged to yield hierarchically ordered materials that can be readily macroscopically aligned.

Copper-promoted coupling of vinyl boronates and alcohols: a mild synthesis of allyl vinyl ethers.

A copper-promoted coupling of vinyl pinacol boronate esters and alcohols for the synthesis of enol ethers is reported. The reaction occurs in 50-99% yield and is compatible with a variety of functional groups. Cupric acetate is the copper source, and triethylamine buffer is used to prevent protodeboration; the reaction occurs at room temperature.