Electrosynthesis and characterisation of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) derivative with a L-proline methyl ester functionality

Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophen-yl-methoxy acetyl L-proline methyl ester), a L-proline methyl ester functionalised poly (3,4- ethylenedioxythiophene) derivative (PEDOT-L-ProMe), was synthesised electrochemically via the potentiostatic polymerisation. The monomer was synthesised by an efficient three-step sequence using 2′-hydroxymethyl-3, 4-ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT-MeOH) as the starting material. The resulting PEDOT-L-ProMe films were characterised by different methods such as cyclic voltammetry, Fourier transform infrared, ultraviolet-visible techniques, fluorescence and thermogravimetric analysis. The films displayed good reversible redox activity and remarkable thermal stability. Especially the fluorescent spectra indicated that PEDOT-L-ProMe was a green-emitter with maximum emission centred at 562 nm and 556 nm corresponding to doped and dedoped films.