Ambipolar conjugated ladder polymers by room-temperature Knoevenagel polymerization.

Two soluble conjugated ladder polymers (cLPs), decorated with multiple electron-poor species (, cyano groups, fused pentagons, and N-heterocyclic rings), have been synthesized from the newly developed tetraketo-functionalized double aza[5]helicene building blocks using a single-step Knoevenagel polycondensation strategy. This facile approach features mild conditions (, room temperature) and high efficiency, allowing us to quickly access a nonalternant ladder-like conjugated system with the formation of multicyano substituents in the backbone. Analysis by H NMR, FT-Raman, and FT-IR spectra confirms the successful synthesis of the resulting cLPs.