Anodic behaviour of methylidene-cyclopentadiaryl derivatives: cyclic voltammetry and theoretical study

Abstract

Electrochemical behaviour of a functionalized fluorenylidene 1 is studied in comparison with a cyclopentadithiophene analogue 2. The influence of the main aromatic group on the electropolymerization ability is reported. We demonstrated that the lack of sulfur atoms in the monomer structure leads to an absence of polymerization due to the spin density located on the methylidene bridge in the radical cation. From modelling considerations, we have evaluated the participation of the methylidene bridge in the p-doping process. The good correlation between the p-doping level and the partial atomic charge carried by the methylidene bridge for poly(2) and poly(3) indicates that an extension of the conjugated area improves the p-doping level when the side chain is electronically connected to the main chain of polymer.