The effect of length and cis/trans relationship of conjugated pathway on secondary battery performance in organolithium electrodes

As our society moves toward large volume applications for Li-ion batteries the inorganic materials traditionally associated with this technology will become scarce and expensive, therefore it is important to develop electrodes that can be manufactured from renewable sources. To this end a series of straight chain derivatives of lithium fumarate having conjugation pathways from one to four units and varying isomeric forms (i.e. cis-trans relationships) have been synthesized and studied in batteries utilizing Li as the counter electrode. These experiments have shown that trans versions of molecules with conjugation pathways of 2, 3, and 4 units reversibly intercalate ~ 1 Li per unit formula at a potential of ~ 1.4 V (vs. Li/Li+) while the corresponding cis derivatives show very limited reversible reactivity towards Li. Finally, the trans lithium fumarate shows no reversibility.