LAUSR

The bulky triarylamine group commonly referred to as the 'Hagfeldt donor' is a key building block found in many of the organic dyes used in dye-sensitized applications such as dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs). This building block has gained popularity due to its presence in many of the highest performing DSC devices found in literature using a dye containing this donor group. The Hagfeldt donor provides a desirable 3-dimensional structure that aids in surface protection of electrons injected into the semiconductor from oxidants in the electrolyte, allowing for record-setting cobalt and copper based redox shuttles to be utilized more frequently. However, the synthesis of this molecule has proven unreliably for many routes. This work describes a novel, reliable and scalable 5-step synthesis of the Hagfeldt donor.