A new chemical polymerization process for substituted anilines

A new chemical polymerization process has been developed for the synthesis of polyaniline derivatives. Various poly(N-alkylanilines) and poly(o-alkylanilines) bearing different alkyl chain lengths (3-18 carbons) can be prepared by oxidation with ammonium persulfate in a mixture comprising methanesulfonic acid, water, hexane and a cosolvent (THF). Using this general process and further purification procedures, we found that numerous polymers can be produced in their dedoped forms with very high purity and reproducibility. The physical, spectral and thermal properties of poly(N-alkylanilines) and poly(o-alkylanilines) were studied and compared. As expected, the solubility of these substituted polyanilines in their dedoped form increased with alkyl chain length, and doped polymers containing long alkyl chains were also totally soluble in the usual organic solvents.