Synthesis of extended -conjugated hypercrosslinked polymers via a Friedel-Crafts reaction and an intramolecular Scholl coupling reaction

Long-range conjugated structures are important for increasing the conductivity and broadening the application scope of hypercrosslinked polymers (HCPs). It is, however, difficult to fabricate long-range conjugated structures using conventional HCP synthesis methods. Herein, we report a simple and efficient strategy for the synthesis of HCPs with extended pi-conjugated structures through Friedel-Crafts and intramolecular Scholl-coupling reactions from readily available aromatic compounds under mild conditions. Two conjugated HCPs (C-HCPs), namely, C-HCP-ATA and C-HCP-TPB, were prepared from anthracene (ATA) and triphenylbenzene (TPB), respectively, using this method. The proposed strategy not only ensures a high specific surface area of materials but also introduces a long-range conjugated structure into HCPs. The lithium-ion battery applications of the C-HCPs were investigated. As anode materials, C-HCP-ATA and C-HCP-TPB displayed higher lithium storage capacities, better conductivity, and higher stability than their precursors, HCP-ATA and HCP-TPB, which were prepared using the conventional method.