The Fundamental Breakthrough Doped Polyacetylene

The decisive breakthrough of 1977 by Alan J. Heeger, Alan G. MacDiarmid, and Hideki Shirakawa has ifs own history. The experimental work— and the intriguing scientific discussions—culminated in the two seminal publications  

Synthesis of Electrically Conducting Organic Polymers Halogen Derivatives of Polyacetylene, (CH), H. Shirakawa, E. J. Louis, A. G. MacDiarmid, C. K. Chiang, and A. J. Heeger, Journal of the Chemical Society, Chemical Communications, 578-580 (1977).  

A closer look at the scientific way Heeger, MacDiarmid, and Shirakawa went, resulting in the discovery of doped polyacefylene, demonstrates the preeminent role of (SN) in fhe course of this development. A second, very important aspect is the interdisciplinarity and internationality of the work. Third, the role of serendipify in chemical research should nof be underestimated and doped, highly conductive polyacetylene is another example. In so far, polyacetylene (PAc) is in a line with penicillin, x-rays. Teflon, and high density polyethylene (HDPE)—all of them being invented with the aid of accidenfs this line can be prolonged without major difficulties. 

A synthetic breakthrough in the s)mthesis of PAc, especially of PAc as a linear high polymer, was achieved by the future Nobel Laureate Giulio Natta in 1958 when he applied Ziegler-Natta catalysts in the polymerization of acetylene for the first time.  

This was the state of the art when the group of Hideki Shirakawa in Tokyo started their work with polyacetylene. The now following first step in the technical revolution regarding the electric conductivity of plastics was decisive, but not very spectacular. The full consequences were not recognized 

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