A Greener, Controllable, Metal Mediated Route to Polyanilines

德克萨斯大学阿灵顿分校化学与生物化学系的H.V. Rasika Dias和Ronald Elsenbaumer得到了无机、生物无机和有机金属化学项目的支持，他们开发了制备具有重要商业意义的导电聚合物聚苯胺的新方法。他们正在研究新的催化剂系统，可以在更温和、更便宜、更环保的条件下聚合苯胺。催化剂体系的可调性允许更好地控制聚合，并允许加入其他共单体和更好的聚苯胺加工性。该催化剂家族的关键是高氟化配体，如[HB(3,5-(CF3)2Pz)3]-。这些氮基氟化配体的铜配合物可以结合并激活氧，而配体和氧之间没有不良的副反应。聚苯胺是一种稳定性好的导电聚合物，具有重要的光学、电学和电化学性能。聚苯胺目前用于电致变色显示器、可充电电池、微电子、抗静电材料、传感器和防腐涂层。目前工业合成聚苯胺的方法成本高，产生大量不良产物。这种新的催化剂家族可能提供聚苯胺的“绿色合成”，使用空气或氧气作为氧化剂，只产生水作为副产物。在这个跨学科项目中工作的学生将获得催化剂合成和聚合物合成和表征的技能。

H.V. Rasika Dias and Ronald Elsenbaumer, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Texas at Arlington, are supported by the Inorganic, Bioinorganic and Organometallic Chemistry Program for developing new methods for the preparation of a commercially important electrically conductive polymer, polyaniline. They are studying new catalyst systems that will polymerize aniline under conditions that are milder, cheaper and more environmentally friendly. The tunability of the catalyst system allows better control over the polymerization and may allow incorporation of other co-monomers and better processability of the polyaniline. The key to this family of catalysts is the highly fluorinated ligands such as[HB(3,5-(CF3)2Pz)3]-. Copper complexes of these nitrogen-based, fluorinated ligands can bind and activate oxygen without undesirable side-reactions between the ligand and oxygen.Polyaniline is a conducting polymer with good stability and important optical, electrical and electrochemical properties. Polyaniline is currently used in electrochromic displays, rechargeable batteries, microelectronics, antistatic materials, sensors and anti-corrosion coatings. The current industrial synthesis of polyaniline is expensive and produces a great deal of undesirable waste products. This new catalyst family may provide a "green synthesis" for polyaniline that uses air or oxygen as the oxidant andproduces only water as a by-product. Students working on this interdisciplinary project will gain skills in catalyst synthesis and polymer synthesis and characterization.