Zi-Yuan's work on synthesis and investigation of stable, high-MW conjugated [5]cumulene polymers has been published on JACS.
In this work, a “meet in the middle” approach has been developed to achieve the first synthesis and characterization of high-MW [5]cumulene-based conjugated polymers. By introducing ortho-substituents on the aryl side groups, the authors have addressed the stability-conjugation dilemma, resulting in stable cumulenic backbones with efficient electron delocalization. The electronic properties of these polymers are found to be strongly influenced by the energy levels and aromaticity of the π-spacers positioned between the cumulene units. The synthetic methodology developed, namely step-growth CPPE, and the structure−property relationship learned in this work set a foundation for future studies and potential applications of long cumulene-based polymeric materials.
