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EPSRC Reference: GR/L09974/01
Title: WATER-SOLUBLE CONJUGATED POLY-ROTAXANES: INSULATED MOLECULAR WIRES
Principal Investigator: Anderson, Professor HL
Other Investigators:
Researcher Co-Investigators:
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Department: Oxford Chemistry
Organisation: University of Oxford
Scheme: Standard Research (Pre-FEC)
Starts: 09 October 1996 Ends: 08 January 2000 Value (£): 135,218
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:
Materials Synthesis & Growth
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Summary on Grant Application Form
Conjugated polymers have many applications as organic semiconductors and as non-linear optical dyes, for telecommunications and display devices. We propose to improve the stability and processability of these polymers by insulating them in sheaths of cylindrical and macrocyclic rings, to give poly-rotaxanes. Poly-rotaxanes have previously been synthesised, but this work represents the first use of rotaxane formation to control the electronic properties of a conjugated system. We propose a new general route to poly-rotaxanes: bind a monomer in a macrocycle, polymerise this non-covalent unit to form a sheathed conjugated polymer, then cap the ends to prevent unthreading. Binding will be achieved using the hydrophobic effect: a non-polar monomer will be bound inside a water-soluble macrocycle and polymerised in aqueous solution. The beauty of this strategy is that the hydrophobic effect is very general, so we do not need to build specific binding sites into our monomers. This approach capitalise on three facts: a) most of the monomers used for conjugated polymer synthesis are hydrophobic, b) many water-soluble macrocycles (such as cyclophanes and cyclodextrins) are available which bind these monomers and c) many of the polymerisation reactions used to synthesise conjugated polymers can be carried out in water.
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Organisation Website: http://www.ox.ac.uk