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Updated: Oct 3, 2026

Reactive Vapor Deposition of Conjugated Polymer Films on Arbitrary Substrates
Published on: January 17, 2018
Highly Selective Route for Producing Unsymmetrically Substituted Monomers toward Synthesis of Conjugated Polymers
Albert J. J. M. van Breemen1, Dirk J. M. Vanderzande, Peter J. Adriaensens
1Institute for Materials Research, Universitaire Campus Gebouw D, Department SBG, Chemistry Division, Limburg University, B-3590 Diepenbeek, Belgium.
Abstract:
A new convenient route for producing unsymmetrically substituted sulfinyl monomers of precursor polymers toward poly(p-phenylene vinylene) is described. Upon treating a symmetrical bissulfonium salt with a thiolate anion, an unexpected high selectivity for the monosubstituted thioethers (90%) is obtained. Optimization of the reaction conditions showed that the stoichiometry of the reactants in this reaction is important to ensure the high selectivity and to prevent unwanted side reactions. Reaction of equimolar amounts of reagents at ambient temperature gave the best results. A mechanism consistent with these results, supported by UV-vis experiments, is presented. Selective oxidation of the thioethers yielded the sulfinyl monomers. By using this new route, it was possible to increase the overall yield by a factor of 2, as compared to the route previously used to obtain these compounds.
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