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Updated: Jun 2, 2026

Synthesis of Cyclic Polymers and Characterization of Their Diffusive Motion in the Melt State at the Single Molecule Level
Published on: September 26, 2016
Precision synthesis of poly(3-hexylthiophene) from catalyst-transfer Suzuki-Miyaura coupling polymerization
Tsutomu Yokozawa1, Ryosuke Suzuki, Masataka Nojima
1Department of Material and Life Chemistry, Kanagawa University, Rokkakubashi, Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama 221-8686, Japan. yokozt01@kanagawa-u.ac.jp
Abstract:
(t)Bu(3) PPd(Ph)Br (1)-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura coupling polymerization of 2-(4-hexyl-5-iodo-2-thienyl)-4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-1,3,2-dioxaborolane (2) was investigated. Monomer 2 was polymerized with 1 at 0 °C in the presence of CsF and 18-crown-6 in THF containing a small amount of water to yield P3HT with a narrow molecular weight distribution and almost perfect head-to-tail regioregularity. The M(n) values increased up to 11,400 g · mol(-1) in proportion to the feed ratio of 2 to 1. The MALDI-TOF mass spectra showed that P3HT with moderate molecular weight uniformly had a phenyl group at one end and a hydrogen atom at the other, indicating involvement of a catalyst-transfer mechanism. Successive 1-catalyzed polymerization of fluorene monomer 3 and then 2 yielded a well-defined block copolymer of polyfluorene and P3HT.
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