Poly(5,6-dimethoxyindole-2-carboxylic acid): An Electrochromic Melanin-Like Polymer

摘要

Melanins are conjugated polymers found in the skin, hair, eyes, ears and brain. The structure-function relationships inherent to these polymers are not entirely clear, especially in the areas of the body where the melanin is not exposed to sunlight. Therefore, it is of interest to study both natural and synthetic versions of melanin in order to understand their biological functions and also to try to utilize them as biomaterials. Most synthetic versions of melanin that have been polymerized (chemically and electrochemically) use l-dopa as the monomer. This method of polymerization produces a dark brown, insoluble polymer that contains many different chemical species and thus broad-band UV-visible absorption.4 We are interested in producing synthetic melanin derivatives that have more defined structures and can be used to investigate the optical, electronic and biological properties of melanin.