Divanillin-Based Polyazomethines: Toward Biobased and Metal-Free π-Conjugated Polymers

Divanillin was synthesized in high yield and purity using Lactase from Trametes versicolor. It was then polymerized with benzene-1,4-diamine and 2,7-diaminocarbazole to form polyazomethines. Polymerizations were performed under microwave irradiation and without transition-metal-based catalysts. These biobased conjugated polyazomethines present a broad fluorescence spectrum ranging from 400 to 600 nm. Depending on the co-monomer used, polyazomethines with molar masses of around 10 kg.mol(-1) and with electronic gaps ranging from 2.66 to 2.85 eV were obtained. Furthermore, time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) calculations were performed to corroborate the experimental results.