Amino-substituted Tröger’s base: electrochemical polymerization and characterization of the polymer film

The amino-substituted coumarin derivative of Tröger’s base (CTB) was electrochemically polymerized on the surface of gold electrodes. The obtained polymer films were characterized by SEM, Raman spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry and in-situ conductometry. Spectroscopic analysis indicates that the polymerization of CTB takes place via oxidation of the aniline fragment of CTB molecule, similar to the polymerization of aniline. The similarity of the polymer backbone to that of the polyaniline is also confirmed by the influence of potential on the film’s conductivity, however the conductivity of the new material is in principle lower than that of polyaniline. SEM shows that the polymer forms a thin layer with a thickness of ∼100 nm. Possible applications of the new material as an artificial receptor for aromatic analytes containing carboxy-group are proposed.