N-acylation: an effective method for reducing the LUMO energy levels of conjugated polymers containing five-membered lactam units

N-acylation was studied as a method for reducing the LUMO energy levels of benzodipyrrolidone-based polymers. The N-acylated polymers showed reduced LUMO levels and improved reversibility of reductive doping compared with N-alkylated polymers. This method may also apply in other conjugated polymers with lactam repeating units.