Combining form with function – the dawn of phosphole-based functional materials

Phosphole-based π-conjugated compounds have recently attracted significant attention due their unique electronic properties. It is now well established that the versatile phosphorus chemistry offers great opportunities for efficient fine-tuning of the properties of π-conjugated systems from a fundamental point of view; a feature that pure carbon-based π-conjugated materials cannot provide. This perspective highlights the recent progress using phosphole-based π-conjugated building blocks towards applied materials with multiple and diverse functionalities.