Photoactive Compounds Based on the Thiazolo[5,4-d]thiazole Core and Their Application in Organic and Hybrid Photovoltaics

Thiazolo[5,4-d]thiazoles (TzTzs) are fused bicyclic heteroaromatic compounds characterized by a rigid planar backbone and an extended π-conjugated electronic structure. Although they have been known for many decades, interest in their properties and applications has begun to increase only recently, after their incorporation into a series of active materials used in the field of organic electronics. Recently, the thiazolo[5,4-d]thiazole scaffold has been inserted into new photoactive compounds (both small-molecule compounds and polymers) used to build bulk-heterojunction organic solar cells (OSCs), as well as in new organic π dyes for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). This microreview focuses on the preparation of such TzTz-containing materials and their application in the field of organic and hybrid photovoltaics.