| Polyacetylene | |
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Polyethyne
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Other names
Polyacetylene, PAc
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| Identifiers | |
| CAS number | 25067-58-7 |
| Properties | |
| Molecular formula | [C2H2]n |
| Solubility in water | insoluble |
| Hazards | |
| R-phrases | R10 |
| S-phrases | - |
| Related compounds | |
| Related compounds | Ethyne (monomer) |
| Except where noted otherwise, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C, 100 kPa) | |
| Infobox references | |
Polyacetylene (IUPAC name: polyethyne) is an organic polymer with the repeat unit (C2H2)n. The high electrical conductivity discovered for these polymers in the 1970’s accelerated interest in the use of organic compounds in microelectronics (organic electronics). Polyacetylenes are also known where the H atoms are replaced with alkyl groups.
Contents |
The polymer consists of a long chain of carbon atoms with alternating single and double bonds between them, each with one hydrogen atom. Schematically the structure of polyacetylene is shown below.
One distinguishes trans-polyacetylene, with all double bonds in the trans configuration, from cis-polyactylene, with all double bonds in the cis configuration. Each hydrogen atom could be replaced by a functional group.
Acetylene polymerizes in a similar fashion to ethylene: the polymerization can be effected with anionic, cationic, and radical initiators. Polyacetylene is generally not prepared by polymerizing acetylene, which is a highly flammable gas that uncontrollably oligomerizes at high concentrations. The most common syntheses use ring opening metathesis polymerisation ("ROMP") of molecules like cyclooctatetraene and substituted derivatives thereof.[1][2][3]
Discovery of the conductive properties of polyacetylene occurred in the early 1970s when a graduate student of Professor Hideki Shirakawa accidentally polymerized acetylene with 1000 times the required amount of catalyst. This revealed the polyacetylene to be a silver, non-conductive film. Shirakawa later collaborated with physicist Alan J. Heeger and chemist Alan G MacDiarmid, and discovered in 1976 that oxidation of this material with iodine results in a 108-fold increase in conductivity. The conductivity of this doped material approaches the conductivity of the best available conductor, silver. This was one of the first known examples of a conductive organic polymer. The three were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2000 for their discoveries.[4][5]