Date of Award

12-2013

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Chemistry

Abstract

Ferrocene is an organometallic compound. It is a classical metallocene consisting of two cyclopentadienyl rings bound on opposite sides of a central iron atom. Such organometallic compounds are also called sandwich compounds. Ferrocene copolymers have well known electrochemical capabilities. The main objective of this thesis is to synthesize vinyl ferrocene copolymers and test their electrochemical properties in aqueous solutions with different electrolytes (sodium nitrate, sodium perchlorate, and phosphate buffered saline). Vinylferrocene and 3-phenyl[5]ferrocenophane-1,5- dimethylene were synthesized using a Wittig reaction. Both ferrocene monomers were copolymerized with N-ethylmaleimide and N-phenylmaleimide and the resulting polymers were analyzed by Gel Permeation chromatography, IR and NMR. Cyclic voltammetry was used to characterize electrochemical properties of the copolymers. Ferrocene copolymers were deposited on the working electrode and the performance of the modified electrode versus electrolyte solution was studied. The application of this research is to understand how organometallic compounds work with electrolyte solutions to produce sensors with potential use in biological systems.

Comments

Electronic thesis, ix, 59 p.

Share

COinS
 
 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.