A series of linear conjugated organoborane oligomers are synthesized here by introducing electron-deficient borole units to the well-explored thiophene unit of variable length. It is found that the photophysical properties, particularly the band structures of products, alter regularly with the extension of thiophene. Interestingly, such oligomers exhibit high activity for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution under visible light (λ > 420 nm), outperforming most of the reported linear polymers. The enhanced performance is possibly attributed to the strong electron-accepting nature of the borole group, as well as the good electron donor and light-harvesting properties of the thiophene group. The combination of these two units facilitates charge separation of oligomers, thus allowing the participation of as many photogenerated charge carriers as possible in the desired water reduction reaction. The results indicate the success of our strategy and the importance of rational molecular design for developing conjugated (oligo)polymers for efficient photocatalytic hydrogen evolution.

中文翻译：

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可调谐共轭有机硼烷低聚物，用于可见光驱动的氢气释放

通过将缺电子的硼原子单元引入经充分研究的可变长度的噻吩单元，可以合成一系列线性共轭有机硼烷低聚物。已经发现，光物理性质，特别是产物的能带结构，随着噻吩的延伸而有规律地变化。有趣的是，这样的低聚物在可见光（λ> 420 nm）下表现出对光催化氢释放的高活性，胜过大多数报道的线性聚合物。性能的提高可能归因于硼烷基的强电子接受性质，以及噻吩基团的良好的电子给体和集光性能。这两个单元的结合有助于低聚物的电荷分离，因此使尽可能多的光生电荷载体参与所需的减水反应。结果表明我们的策略的成功和合理的分子设计对开发共轭（低聚物）聚合物以有效地光催化制氢的重要性。