Incorporation of Thieno[3,2-b]thiophene Moieties as Novel Electropolymerizable Groups in a Conducting Metallopolymer and Study of the Effect on Photostability

• Published in: Macromolecular rapid communications. 2015-04, Vol.36 (7), p.665-670
• Main Authors: Caraway, Jennifer D., Nguyen, Minh T., Mitchell, Lauren A., Holliday, Bradley J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: conducting metallopolymers; conducting polymers; Light; metal-polymer complexes; Nickel - chemistry; Organometallic Compounds - chemical synthesis; Organometallic Compounds - chemistry; Photochemistry; photostability; Polymers - chemical synthesis; Polymers - chemistry; thienothiophene; Thiophenes - chemistry
• ISSN: 1022-1336; 1521-3927
• DOI: 10.1002/marc.201400555

A novel nickel(II)‐containing conducting metallopolymer utilizing thieno[3,2‐b]thiophene moieties as the electropolymerizable groups is synthesized and characterized. A metal‐free polymer is also obtained via electropolymerization of the title ligand allowing comparative studies of the electrochemical and spectroscopic properties of the polymer system in the presence and absence of nickel(II) metal ions. Photodegradation of the two polymers is studied along with an analogous system incorporating bithiophene as the electropolymerizable groups. Stability is found to be comparable between the metal‐free thieno[3,2‐b]thiophene‐ and bithio­phene‐based polymers; however, significant enhancement is observed in the thieno[3,2‐b]thiophene‐based nickel(II) conducting metallopolymer. Conducting metallopolymers utilizing thieno[3,2‐b]thiophene as the polymerizable group are prepared for the first time by electropolymerization. The synthesis, characterization, and photostability studies are reported. These experiments reveal significantly higher stability for conducting metallopolymers over the corresponding metal‐free analogues, especially those containing thieno[3,2‐b]thiophene, indicating a potential for use in optoelectronic devices.