A new method to prepare 3-octylthiophene and 3-(polyoctylthiophene)

Summary form only given. A new method has been developed to prepare 3-octylthiophene starting from potassium salt of octylsuccinic anhydride and phosphorus pentasulfide. The yield of the reaction is about 70 %. The inorganic waste is converted back to phosphorus pentasulfide with sulfur at 550 /spl deg/C. The method reduces substantially the production cost and the amount of waste formed. 3-Octylthiophene was polymerized using FeCl/sub 3/. The polymer yield was about 70 %. The polymer structure was characterized to consist of about 80 % regular head-to-tail linkages. The polymer had Mw 70000 and Mn 29000 and the content of Fe less than 100 ppm.