Influence of ionic liquids as solvents for the chemical synthesis of poly(3-octylthiophene) with FeCl3†
Abstract
Ionic liquids (ILs) were used as solvents for the FeCl3-catalyzed oxidative polymerization of 3-octylthiophene (3OT) for the first time. An excellent yield of 99% was obtained by using 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluoroantimonate. The effect of the IL structure on the oxidative polymerization of 3OT was analyzed by the linear solvation energy relationship equation.