Thieno[3,4-b]pyrazines and their applications to low band gap organic materials.

The application of fused-ring thieno[3,4-b]pyrazines in conjugated organic polymers has been found to be a powerful approach to the production of low band gap materials. While thieno[3,4-b]pyrazine-based materials date back to the early 1990s, significant advances in the preparation and scope of thieno[3,4-b]pyrazine-based materials have been reported in recent years, primarily in response to the increasing demand for reduced band gap materials in photovoltaic devices. In this review, we provide an overview of thieno[3,4-b]pyrazines and their application to conjugated materials, highlighting in particular the recent advances in the breadth of thieno[3,4-b]pyrazine building blocks and the promise of tuning materials to achieve optimal properties for specific applications. This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2011