Christopher L. Heth and Seth C. Rasmussen. North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND
Due to their stability and ease of synthetic modification, polythiophenes are highly versatile conjugated polymers of fundamental and technological interest. One such class of polythiophenes, polyalkoxythiophenes, retain the solubility of simple alkyl derivatives, but exhibit increased conjugation due to a reduction in sterics and the direct electronic contribution of the á-oxygen of the alkoxy group. Our work has generated an interest in nitrogen-derivatized polythiophenes, thus initiating new synthetic routes to analogous N-functionalized poly(3-aminothiophene)s. While these materials have been successfully produced via oxidative polymerization, there are still a number of unresolved questions concerning the oxidative processes. To further study these systems, voltammetry techniques have been applied to the study of the redox processes of N-alkyl- and N-methyl-N-alkyl-3-aminothiophenes, as well as their corresponding polymers. UV-vis absorbance studies of electropolymerized films on indium tin oxide will also be presented, along with a proposed polymerization mechanism for this new class of polythiophenes.
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