The chemical reactivity of sorbitol with pedot

ORGN 359

Amber Onorato, Amber.Onorato@huskymail.uconn.edu1, Daminda Navarathne1, Michael B. Smith, michael.smith@uconn.edu1, and Gregory A. Sotzing, sotzing@mail.ims.uconn.edu2. (1) Department of Chemistry, University of Connecticut, 55 N. Eagleville Rd., Storrs, CT 06269-3060, (2) Department of Chemistry and the Polymer Science Program, University of Connecticut, 97 N. Eagleville Rd (U-136), Storrs, CT 06269
Sorbitol is a known additive to the conducting polymer poly(ethylenedioxy)thiophene (PEDOT), resulting in an enhancement in the conductivity of the polymer after heating. We used the electropolymerized PEDOT with a triflate anion, which we refer to as PEDOT-E. We have discovered that heating sorbitol and PEDOT in toluene, in a two-phase reaction, leads to formation of sorbitan in 75% yield. It is clear that the interaction of sorbitol and the polymer leads to a chemical reaction, which may have implications for understanding the nature of this additive in terms of conductivity enhancement, and also in terms of the working lifetime of the polymer once it is in a device.

 

Materials, Devices, and Switches
1:00 PM-4:40 PM, Monday, August 20, 2007 BCEC -- 258A, Oral

Division of Organic Chemistry

The 234th ACS National Meeting, Boston, MA, August 19-23, 2007