A study of polymers obtained by oxidative coupling of furan monomers

Via the procedure of oxidative coupling of furan monomers using either titanium tetrachloride (TiCl4) or ferric chloride (FeCl3) as oxidants, two different compounds are obtained. Different experimental analyses including infrared, Raman, optical absorption and ESR techniques are combined and completed by density functional theory to differentiate between both resulting compounds. It is found that both oxidants induce cleavage of aromatic rings. The rates of the resulting aliphatic sequences in each compound are different. Then, to elucidate the effect of oxidant on the electronic properties of the resulting compounds, an ESR dependant temperature study is done. We show that the compound obtained by using FeCl3 contains ionic structure. The effect of temperature on the dynamics of these electronic species is also studied.

► Synthesis of modified PFu using FeCl3 and TiCl4 as oxidants.
► Use of vibrational and optical analysis to differentiate between the two compounds.
► Use of ESR to elucidate the nature of the formed radical centers.