Synthesis of poly(diiodophenyleneoxide)s through atom transfer radical rearrangement polymerization of various copper complexes - Effect of ligand

Although extensive work has been devoted to explore the synthesis of poly(dichlorophenyleneoxide)s and poly(dibromophenyleneoxide)s, in the literature synthesis of poly(diiodophenyleneoxide)s has been scarcely investigated. Hence, this study efforts to investigate the synthesis of poly(diiodophenyleneoxide)s via atom transfer radical rearrangement polymerization through decomposition of triiodophenoxy copper complexes with N,N,N′,N′-tetramethyl ethylenediamine, ethylenediamine, N,N′-dimethylformamide and dimethylsulfoxide ligands. Polymerizations were carried out to investigate the effect of type of ligand and polymerization time on percent conversion, polymer structure and intrinsic viscosities of the polymers. Characterizations of the polymers were performed by FT-IR, DSC, 1H NMR and viscometric measurements. Among the synthesized polymers, the highest percent conversion was achieved by the decomposition of TMEN-Cu(TIP)2 complex and all the synthesized poly(diiodophenyleneoxide)s displayed selectivity in the favor of 1-4 additions having linear structure and high Tg values.