Issue 41, 2013

Role of the transition metal in Grignard metathesis polymerization (GRIM) of 3-hexylthiophene

Abstract

Regioregular poly(3-alkylthiophene)s are widely used in organic electronics applications such as solar cells and field effect transistors. Nickel, palladium, and platinum diphenylphosphinoethane complexes were tested as catalysts for the Grignard metathesis (GRIM) polymerization of 2,5-dibromo-3-hexylthiophene and 2-bromo-5-iodo-3-hexylthiophene. Nickel-mediated polymerization generated regioregular, low-polydispersity poly(3-hexylthiophene) with well-defined molecular weight consistent with a “living” chain-growth mechanism. By contrast, palladium-mediated polymerization proceeded by a step-growth mechanism and generated polymers with less than 80% head-to-tail couplings. Platinum-mediated polymerization gave very low molecular weight products. Kinetic and computational results suggested that the nickel catalyst acts as an initiator and remains associated with the growing polymer chain, while palladium dissociates from the growing chain. Computational and experimental evidence was provided for various side reactions of dissociated Pd(0) catalyst, which could yield a step growth mechanism and lower regioirregularity.

Graphical abstract: Role of the transition metal in Grignard metathesis polymerization (GRIM) of 3-hexylthiophene

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
16 Aug 2013
Accepted
06 Sep 2013
First published
09 Sep 2013
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2013,1, 12841-12849

Role of the transition metal in Grignard metathesis polymerization (GRIM) of 3-hexylthiophene

M. P. Bhatt, H. D. Magurudeniya, P. Sista, E. E. Sheina, M. Jeffries-EL, B. G. Janesko, R. D. McCullough and M. C. Stefan, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2013, 1, 12841 DOI: 10.1039/C3TA13258G

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