Electroactive polymers containing cyclobutadiene Cp cobalt complexes

ORGN 346

Paul Byrne and Timothy M. Swager. Department of Chemistry and Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, Cambridge, MA 02139
One focus in the development of new conducting organic materials is the enhancement of charge delocalization through the polymer backbone. In an attempt to achieve this goal, a synthetic strategy was developed to incorporate cyclobutadiene into a conjugated polymer. It was hypothesized that the inherit anti-aromaticity of the cyclobutadiene system would promote charge delocalization and produce enhanced electrochemical properties. The Rausch cyclization was utilized to produce cobalt stabilized cyclobutadiene monomers containing polymerizable thiophene-based groups. The monomers were polymerized electrochemically and the subsequent polymers were characterized with various techniques. These techniques include in-situ conductivity measurements, spectroelectrochemistry and in-situ EPR. The effect of the electrochemical polymerization conditions on the composition and properties of the resulting polymer was also investigated.

 

Materials, Devices, and Switches
1:00 PM-5:00 PM, Tuesday, August 24, 2004 Pennsylvania Convention Center -- 201B, Oral

Division of Organic Chemistry

The 228th ACS National Meeting, in Philadelphia, PA, August 22-26, 2004