A Greener, Controllable, Metal Mediated Route to Polyanilines

德克萨斯大学阿灵顿分校化学和生物化学系的H. V. Rasika Dias和罗纳德Elsenbaumer得到了无机、生物无机和有机化学项目的支持，用于开发制备商业上重要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，使苯胺在更温和、更便宜和更环保的条件下分解。催化剂体系的可调性允许更好地控制聚合，并且可以允许掺入其它共聚单体和聚苯胺的更好的可加工性。这类催化剂的关键是高度氟化的配体，如[HB（3，5-（CF 3）2 Pz）3]-。这些含氮含氟配体的铜配合物可以与氧结合并活化氧，而配体与氧之间没有不希望的副反应。聚苯胺是一种具有良好稳定性和重要光学、电学和电化学性质的导电聚合物。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、传感器和防腐涂料。目前聚苯胺的工业合成是昂贵的，并产生大量不希望的废物。这种新的催化剂家族可以提供一种“绿色合成”聚苯胺的方法，这种方法使用空气或氧气作为氧化剂，只产生水作为副产物。从事这一跨学科项目的学生将获得催化剂合成和聚合物合成及表征方面的技能。

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.