M. Pohjakallio, G. Sundholm
Mar 22, 1993
Citations
0
Influential Citations
7
Citations
Journal
Synthetic Metals
Abstract
Abstract The structure of 3-thiophenemethanol differs from that of 3-methylthiophene only by one OH group. In order to compare the electrochemical polymerization properties of 3-thiophenemethanol and 3-methylthiophene potential cycling and potential step procedures were applied to 0.1 M Bu 4 NClO 4 acetonitrile solutions with different concentrations of the monomers. The polymer films formed were studied by cyclic voltammetry. Both the polymerization of the two monomers and the electrochemical properties of the corresponding polymers were found to be different. The sterical and electronic effects of the substituents on the thiophene rings do not explain these differences. Instead the determining role is played by the nucleophility of the -CH 2 OH substituent. Evidently the radical cations produced as intermediates in the electropolymerization process can not only be consumed (i) in side reactions with nucleophilic impurities but also (ii) in reactions with the nucleophilic parts of the reactant monomers leading to the formation of electro-inactive polymer deposits on the working electrode.