Solid-state polymerization, of diacetylenes

Figure 8. Solid-state polymerization of diacetylenes. A crystalline array of monomer units polymerizes through intermediate states to the final crystalline polymer chain.

The solid-state polymerization of diacetylenes is an example of a lattice-controlled solid-state reaction. Polydiacetylenes are synthesized via a 1,4-addition reaction of monomer crystals of the form R-C=C-CeC-R. The polymer backbone has a planar, fully conjugated structure. The electronic structure is essentially one dimensional with a lowest-energy optical transition of typically 16 000 cm-l. The polydiacetylenes are unique among organic polymers in that they may be obtained as large-dimension single crystals. 

The second reaction we will treat here that in many cases proceeds by a homogeneous mechanism is the solid-state polymerization of diacetylenes. The photolability of these compounds has long been known (189), but it was not until the appearance of the pioneering works of Hirshfeld and Schmidt (168) and of Wegner (190) that some real understanding of the process was introduced. This led to an explosive interest in the subject, and more than 200 diacetylene derivatives have now been studied, by a wide variety of techniques (191). 

The polymerization proceeds under photo- [49,50],X-ray [51], and y-ray [52] irradiation in the dark in vacuo, in air, or even in water or organic solvent as the dispersant (nonsolvent) for the crystals, similar to the solid-state polymerization of diacetylene compounds [ 12]. The process of topochemical polymerization of 1,3-diene monomers is also independent of the environment surrounding the crystals. Recently, the thermally induced topochemical polymerization of several monomers with a high decomposition and melting point was confirmed [53]. The polymer yield increases as the reaction temperature increases during the thermal polymerization. IR and NMR spectroscopies certified that the polymers obtained from the thermally induced polymerization in the dark have a stereoregular repeating structure identical to those of the photopolymers produced by UV or y-ray irradiation. 

Figure 1. Solid-state polymerization of diacetylenes shown schematically (left) an array of monomer molecules in the crystal lattice frightj the resulting polydiacetylene chain.

It appears that the reaction mechanism and the intermediates involved in the solid-state polymerization of diacetylenes are reasonably well understood. However, experimental results obtained with special monomers should not be generalized. It is not possible to design a monomer with desired properties. Inspection of Table 1 shows that on the basis of the crystallographic data and the monomer packing the absolute reactivity and the polymerization kinetics caimot be quantitatively predicted, e.g. it is not possible, to date, to explain why certain diacetylenes can be polymerized thermally whereas others with equal packing are thermally inactive. A more realistic kinetic model should include the various energy transport processes and the complex side group motions which are connected to the reaction. 

In some special cases, however, both the polymerization and the side group reorientation are single phase processes. They are of special interest for understanding the dynamics and side group mobility in the solid-state polymerization of diacetylenes. 

Although interesting within the framework of polymer physics and material science this would not be sufficient to attract so many workers from areas outside of conventional polymer research. Additional interest arouse because of the unusual structure of the polymers obtained via solid-state polymerization of diacetylenes and because of the mechanistic features related to its formation. Polydiacetylenes exhibit a fully conjugated and planar backbone in the crystalline state and are thus considered the prototype study object as far as the nature and physical behavior of polyconjugated macromolecules are concerned Theoretical discussions of the electronic structure of these polymers (2) lead to a description in terms of a wide band one-dimensional semiconductor... 

Microcrystals of some diacetylenes, prepared by the reprecipitation method, have been studied as dispersions in liquid media. Interesting behavior has been observed in the solid-state polymerization of diacetylene monomers and with the optical properties of polydiacetylene (PDA) microcrystals. First, the polymerization perfectly proceeded from one end to the other end of the diacetylene microcrystals. Next, the excitonic absorption peak position was found to shift to higher energy side with decreasing size of the PDA microcrystals. The size effect was observed even for crystals as large as 100 nm or more in contrast to conventional quantum effect of inorganic semiconductors where size effect is observed only for microciystals of less than about 10 nm size. In addition, since the microcrystal dispersions in water have low optical loss, the c tical Kerr shutter response of PDA microciystals could be measured, and the non-resonant value was estimated to be on the order of 10 to 10" esu in very low concentrations (ca. 10 M). 

Figure 15.3 Topochemical solid-state polymerization of diacetylenes (1,4-addition). Partillel diacetylene molecules (A) reacting to form the trans, trans polymer, which can be represented by the alternate monomeric structures (B) and (C)...

The increase of the electric permittivity for electric fields parallel to the polymer chain direction during solid state polymerization of diacetylenes can be used for in situ monitoring the monomer to polymer conversion of individual single crystals. The large librational am-... 

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