The Effect of Increasing Propyl Group Substitution on Permethyl Polyazine
William B. Euler, Gregory S. King, Macromolecules, 1989, 22, 4664 – 4666
Introduction
The study of polymers with conjugated π systems that can be oxidatively or reductively doped into a highly conductive state has been of great interest recently. The prototype polymer in this class is polyacetylene, –(CH=CH)x–. We have been studying polyazines, –(N=C(R1)–C(R2)=N)x–, that are formally isoelectronic to, but topologically distinct from, polyacetylene. Unlike polyacetylene, polyazines are environmentally stable and so are attractive candidates for useful conducting polymers. Polyazines (R1 = R2 = H or R1 = R2 = CH3) can be doped to give conducting materials but these polymers lack processing characteristics. Organic soluble polyazines are known, but these materials do not dope into a highly conducting state.
This report describes the preparation and IR and NMR characterization of long-chain soluble permethyl (R1 = R2 = CH3) polyazines with a controlled number of propyl groups along the polymer chain. The goal is to prepare materials with the organic solubility afforded by the side chain, but leading to a conducting material as found in the permethyl derivative.