Comparative study on the enzymatic polymerization of N-substituted aniline derivatives

A series of water-soluble N-substituted poly(alkylanilines) (PNAAs) have been enzymatically synthesized with a variety of groups, from methyl to n-butyl, such as poly(N-methylanitine), poly(N-ethylaniline), poly(N-butylaniline) and poly(N-phenylethanolamine). The syntheses were made in the presence of poly(4-sodium styrene sulfonate) (SPS) as a template and horseradish peroxidase (HRP) as a catalyst. The size and type of the groups have a great effect on the properties of the final polymers. UV-vis spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry measurements confirmed that for enzymatically synthesized PNAAs/SPS complexes, the electroactivity increased with the bulkiness of the substituents. These polymers have been studied in the doped and undoped states by FT-IR and UV-vis spectroscopy. Also these polymers show multiple and reversible optical transitions that can be ascribed to the formation of polaron and bipolaron states. Copyright (c) 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.