Researcher(s)
- Cecelia Napoli, Biochemistry, University of Delaware
Faculty Mentor(s)
- Laure Kayser, Department of Material Science & Engineering, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of Delaware
Abstract
Crown ethers are compounds, consisting of rings of oxygens and carbons, that are primarily known for their ability to form complexes with cations. The various sizes of crown ethers have affinities for specific cations such as 18-crown-6 which is highly selective for potassium ions. Currently, these compounds have many applications within the fields of analytical chemistry, biochemistry, and material science due to the aforementioned properties. For instance, crown ethers are commonly used as phase transfer catalysts, although their use in ion-selective devices is becoming more prominent. This research focuses on synthesizing and purifying vinylbenzo-crown-ethers from catechol for the later purpose of polymerization. The polymerization process concentrates on using RAFT polymerization to polymerize the crown ether monomer with a PSS macro-agent. The presence of both the crown ether monomers and polymers were confirmed after the syntheses using NMR spectroscopy. These materials are made for the purpose of implementation in organic electrochemical transistors (OCETs) which could lead to more specific and sensitive devices in the future.