J. Sauvajol, C. Chorro, J. Lère-Porte
Feb 1, 1994
Citations
0
Influential Citations
36
Citations
Journal
Synthetic Metals
Abstract
Abstract Polythiophene films were obtained upon anodic oxidation of silythiophene monomers with various structures: 2,5-bis(trimethylsilyl)thiophene (1), 5,5′-bis(trimethylsilyl)bithiophene (2), 5,5″-bis(trimethylsilyl)terthiophene (3), 2,4-bis(trimethylsilyl)thiophene (4) and 3-trimethylsilylthiophene (5). Polymerization occurred through a complete electrodesilylation for monomers 1–3 having silyl substituents at the α-position of the thiophene ring. Only partial desilylation occurred upon electropolymerization of monomers 4 and 5 with silyl substituents at the β-position. The structural properties of the polythiophene films obtained were studied by FT-IR and Raman spectroscopy. On the basis of Raman and photoluminescence studies, the polymers obtained from 1–3 appeared highly structured, with higher mean conjugation lengths and lower amounts of defects, when compared to polymers obtained from the corresponding non-silylated monomers. Therefore, in agreement with a previous report based on electrochemical studies, the presence of α-silyl substituents at the thiophene ring favours the formation of highly structured polymers exclusively linked 2,5 throughout. Conversely, the polymers obtained from monomers 4 and 5 revealed the presence of some 2,4-linkages in the polymer chain and a lower mean conjugation length.