BIOTINYLATED POLY(3-HEXYLTHIOPHENE-CO-3-METHANOLTHIOPHENE) - A LANGMUIR MONOLAYER-FORMING COPOLYMER

Copolymers of 3-substituted thiophenes have been synthesized by organosynthetic routes. The chemical synthesis of the copolymer was carried out by dehydrogenation of 3-hexylthiophene and 3-methanolthiophene. Attachment of biotin to the resulting copolymer, poly(3-hexylthiophene-co-3-methanolthiophene) [PMHT], is accomplished by room temperature esterification using N,N-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide (DCC) and 4-pyrrolidinopyridine as catalyst. The resulting copolymers have well-defined chemical and electronic structures and molecular weights. The biotinylated copolymer forms a stable monolayer at the air-water interface due to the polar groups along the polymer backbone.