NOVEL, HIGHLY CONDUCTING, AND SOLUBLE POLYMERS FROM ANODIC COUPLING OF ALKYL-SUBSTITUTED CYCLOPENTADITHIOPHENE MONOMERS

A series of 4-n-alkyl- and 4,4-di-n-alkyl-substituted cyclopentadithio phenes (C(n)CPDT and (Cn)2CPDT, n = 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, and 16) were synthe sized and polymerized by anodic coupling in 0.1 M TEAP + AN. Electroch emistry, OR and electronic spectroscopies, elemental analysis, and in situ conductivity indicate that the polymers are oxidized to the condu ctive state (0.5 anion per monomeric unit) in two steps and in a singl e step for poly[C(n)CPDT] and poly[(C(n))2CPDT], respectively. The pol ymers are highly conductive (80-300 S/cm for poly[C(n)CPDT] and 2-40 S /cm for poly[(C(n))2CPDT]) and soluble in CHCl3 (degree of polymerizat ion = 10-40 for poly[C16CPDT] and for poly[C4)2CPDT]). Absorption maxi ma, in the range 545-605 nm, are anomalously red shifted to 640 and 68 0 for poly[(C8)2CPDT] and poly[(C16)2CPDT].