Surface-Confined Nickel Mediated Cross-Coupling Reactions: Characterization of Initiator Environment in Kumada Catalyst-Transfer Polycondensation

Kumada catalyst-transfer polycondensation (KCTP) has proven to be an excellent strategy toward the synthesis of well-defined conjugated polymers. In this report, Ni(0) species are reacted with surface-bound aryl bromides to yield KCTP initiators of structure (aryl)Ni(II)–Br. Surface-confined Kumada reactions are carried out with a ferrocene functionalized Grignard reagent to quantify initiator coverage, ligand exchange, and Kumada reaction kinetics. In addition, surface-initiated Kumada catalyst-transfer polycondensation (SI-KCTP) is carried out from the fabricated initiators to modify SiO2 and ITO surfaces. Uniform poly(3-methylthiophene) films with thicknesses between 40 and 65 nm were characterized using a variety of spectroscopic and electrochemical techniques.