Functional Conducting Polymers via Thiol-ene Chemistry

We demonstrate here that thiol-ene chemistry can be used to provide side-chain functionalized monomers based on 3,4-propylenedioxythiophene ( ProDOT) containing ionic, neutral, hydrophobic, and hydrophilic side chains. All reactions gave high yields and purification could generally be accomplished through precipitation. These monomers were polymerized either chemically or electro-chemically to give soluble materials or conductive films, respectively. This strategy provides for facile tuning of the solubility, film surface chemistry, and film morphology of this class of conducting polymers.