Electrochemical oxidation of dipyrrolyl derivatives: application to the formation oof reticulated conducting polymers with conjugated spacers

摘要

In this work, derivatives of thiophene and pyrrole where the two electropolymerizable units are linked with the phenyl derivatives have been studied. First, the monomers were studied to elucidate their polymerization mode. Even with extended conjgated structures, the oxidized monomer remains reactive enough to lead to polymerization and, irrespective of the monomer chosen, reticulated structures are always obtained. In such materials, the conducting chains (polypyrrole, or regioregular poly(pyrrole/bithiophene)) are connected through conjugated spacers. Secondly, the polymers in their oxidized and reduced state were characterized by IR spectroscopy. Results show that the electronic interactions between the chains and the conjgated spacers are modulated by the oxidation state of the polymer. These results suggest that such conjugated spacers can be used to promote interchain electronic connections in conducting polymers.