Synthesis of a polyconjugated polymer by aldol condensation of 2,5-diformylfuran and acetone
Nikolay Valerievich Tarabanko, Valery Evgenievich Tarabanko, Mikhail Yurievich Chernyak, Konstantin Leonidovich Kaygorodov, Alexander Alexandrovich Kondrasenko, Nikolay Gennadievich Maksimov, Maxim Alexandrovich Lutoshkin, Nina Ivanovna Pavlenko
Abstract
Pioneer synthesis of the product of aldol polycondensation between 2,5-diformylfuran and acetone is presented. The synthesis was accomplished by a direct reaction of diformylfuran and acetone in dimethyl sulfoxide with addition of aqueous sodium hydroxide as a catalyst. The fact of the aldol condensation occurrence and formation of the polyconjugated oligomers in this system is confirmed by 1H nuclear magnetic resonance and molecular absorption spectroscopy. Cannizzaro reaction plays a significant side process role in the studied system, leading to the loss of diformylfuran’s aldehyde groups and their inability to participate in polymer chain growth. A solid polymeric product of brown color was isolated with the yield of 28 % based on the initial diformylfuran. The solid product is insoluble (judging by the lack of coloration in liquid) in various tested solvents: water, 1,4-dioxane, dimethyl sulfoxide, acetone, chloroform, or 1,2-dichloroethane with trifluoroacetic acid mixed in different proportions. The presence of polyconjugated chains in the solid product is confirmed by electron spin resonance spectroscopy.