Novel Routes to WellDefined Conjugated Polymers

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Novel Routes to Well-Defined Conjugated
Polymers Javid Rzayev, University at Buffalo, The
State University of New York, Buffalo, NY
Low cost, versatility, and ease of processability
are the characteristics that semiconducting
polymers are envisioned to bring to the field of
electronic materials. En route to this goal, new
syntheses are necessary to provide polymers with
well-defined structural parameters and allow
their integration into complex devices. We are
working on developing a robust, new methodology
for preparing conjugated macromolecules with
controlled chain-lengths and end-groups, narrow
chain length distributions, as well as their
block copolymers. Our strategy is based on
polymerization of cyclic dienes and the
subsequent chemical transformation of the
obtained polymers to install pi-conjugated
backbones. We have synthesized a series of cyclic
and bicyclic exo-diene monomers and successfully
utilized living radical polymerization techniques
to prepare polymers with well-defined molecular
weights and narrow molecular weight
distributions. Other notable achievement of our
studies include

• Synthesis of bicyclic diene polymers in a
• controlled fashion
• Synthesis of block copolymers of bicyclic
• dienes and other vinyl monomers
• Oxidative cleavage of backbone double bonds
• to introduce ketone functionalities in the
• backbone