Electrochemical copolymerization of aniline and ortho-aminobenzylamine. Studies on its conductivity and chemical derivatization

The electrochemical copolymerization of aniline and o-aminobenzylamine (ABA) leads to a polymer with aliphatic amino groups able to be derivatized. The synthesized material has a stoichiometry ABA:aniline ca. 1:1 when their ratio in the precursor solution range between 90:10 and 75:25. It presents similar conducting properties as polyaniline in acid medium. The conductance of the prepared polymer shows significant improvement compared to polyaniline in weak acidic to neutral media. The resulting product is able to be derivatized by mild reactions with molecules bearing a carboxylate or a carbonyl group. We show that approximately 20% of the added functional groups can be easily modified.