Synthesis and characterization of polymers derived from selenophene

The synthesis of poly(2,5-selenophen-oxo-1,4-phenylen-selenide-1,4-phenylene-oxo) (I) and poly(2,5-selenophen-oxo-1,4-phenylen-diselenide-1,4-phenylen-oxo) (II) by reaction of 2,5-bis(1,4-bromo-phenylen-oxo-) -selenophene with sodium selenide or diselenide, respectively, using dimethylformamide as solvent, is described. Both monomers and polymers were characterized by elemental analysis, melting point, and FTIR spectroscopy. Polymers I and II were doped with iodine and SbF5 and characterized by SEM and XPS. Also, the conductivity and the T-g values were determined. For both polymers the best doping agent was iodine, although polymer II always presented higher conductivity, reaching values of about 6.10(-9) S.cm(-1). The T-g values suggest a likely crosslinking of the chains in polymer II when doped with SbF5. (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.