Imine oligomers and polymers

In the last few years, polymers with highly conjugated chains have attracted much attention because of their wide variety of applications in the held of electronics, opto-electronics, and photonics. Polyimines (PIs) (polymeric Schiff bases) is a class of polymer family, which has been less reviewed. In this paper, we focus on the synthesis methods of PIs by polycondensation, using diamines or hydrazine and dialdehydes, diketones or quinone compounds, or by chemical and electrochemical polymerization of imine oligomers containing terminal oxidable groups (pyrrole, thiophene, furan, naphthalene, etc). PIs with liquid crystalline behavior or having rotaxane and dendrimer architectures are also discussed. Structure, thermal, opto-electronic, electrical, and mechanical properties and some potential applications of this class of polymers are presented in the last chapters.