Routes to conjugated polymers with ferrocenes in their backbones: Synthesis and characterization of poly(ferrocenylenedivinylene) and poly(ferrocenylenebutenylene)

Ring opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) has been used to prepare conjugated polymers that contain ferrocene moieties as part of their backbones. The conjugated polymer poly(ferrocenylenedivinylene) (PFDV) and the analogous unconjugated polymer poly(ferrocenylenebutenylene) (PFB) with chain lengths of greater than 10 were found to be insoluble in typical organic solvents. The conductivities of oxidatively doped films of PFDV and PFB were found to be 10(-4) and 10(-5) Omega(-1) cm(-1) respectively. Oxidative doping of the monomer 1,4-(1,1'-ferrocenediyl)-1-butene was found to yield conductivities on the order of 10(-5) Omega(-1) cm(-1), supporting interchain hopping as the dominant mechanism for charge carrier movement through these films. The ROMP of monomers octamethyl-1,4-(1,1-'ferrocenediyl)-1,3-butadiene and 1,4-(1, 1'-ferrocenediyl)-1-methoxy-1,3-butadiene was also studied. Although soluble polymer was successfully generated from the latter monomer, no conditions were found under which the octamethyl compound could be polymerized.