Super acid-catalyzed polymerization of phenothiazine and modified isatin

• Main Authors: Bharatraj Kasi, Vajjiravel Murugesan, Neelakandan Kaliaperumal
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: SpringerOpen 2019-06-01
• Series: Applied Petrochemical Research
• Subjects: Isatin; Phenothiazine; Donor–acceptor; Super acid-catalyzed polymerization
• Online Access: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13203-019-0229-x

Abstract Novel substituted series of aromatic copolymers was obtained by one-spot, metal-free super acid-catalyzed one-step polymerization of substituted isatin and phenothiazine. The polymerization reaction was performed at room temperature in the presence of Bronsted superacid (trifluoromethanesulfonic acid) and methylene chloride which condenses the compounds consists of carbonyl group (aldehydes and ketones) and aromatic rings to yield the polymers. Super acid catalyst has several advantages including the reaction proceeding at room temperature and great synthetic versatility. The obtained polymers have good solubility in common organic solvents. The polymers were purified by repeated precipitations with methanol. Polymers (P1–P3) were completely characterized by FT-IR, 1H NMR, TGA, and UV–visible, fluorescence and cyclic voltammetry techniques. Polymers (P1–P3) possessed excellent thermal stability up to 300 °C and have absorbance and emission maximum at 557 and 630 nm, respectively. The optical and electrochemical properties of these polymers revealed that it could be one of the capable materials for applications in optoelectronic device and in the area of proton exchange membrane fuel cell.