Chemistry Weekly Seminar - Jonatas Faleiro Berbigier, PhD Student
Jonatas Faleiro Berbigier, PhD student in the Department of Chemistry, University of Saskatchewan will present a seminar at 1:30 pm in Thorvaldson 159.
Title
Indophenine Reaction: a New Method for Synthesizing Conjugated Polymers
Abstract
Traditionally, conjugated polymer syntheses have relied heavily on metal-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions. These cross-couplings require appropriately-functionalized monomers, increasing the length and complexity of the overall synthesis; in addition, some of the commonly-used reagents (e.g., trialkyltin chlorides) are highly toxic. Even after a polymer has been successfully prepared, residual metal impurities can also compromise its optoelectronic properties and performance in devices. As such, there is a demand for metal-free approaches to conjugated polymer synthesis.
In this talk, I will discuss my recent work using the indophenine reaction to polymerize thiophene and bifunctional isatin comonomers, an approach which uses only sulfuric acid as the catalyst. The indophenine reaction will be compared to benchmark synthetic methods, such as Stille coupling and direct heteroarylation polymerization, and the optoelectronic properties of the resulting polymers (including very low optical bandgaps) will be discussed.
Date: Friday, February 9
Time: 1:30 pm
Place: Thorvaldson 159