Design, synthesis and electrochemical properties of a thiophene derivative functionalized with a siderophore-like chelator

A hybrid 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT)-thiophene precursor functionalized with an hydroxypyridinone group has been synthesized and electropolymerized into the corresponding polymer. The analysis of the dependence of the open circuit potential (OCP) of the modified electrode on the concentration of Fe3+ in aqueous solution shows that metal binding to the hydroxypyridinone groups prevents the oxidation of the conjugated polymer backbone until a threshold determined by the occupancy of the available complexation sites of the functionalized polymer is reached.