Metal-containing π-conjugated polymers.

A review. This chapter reviews research published on conjugated metal-contg. polymers from late 1998 to mid-2005. It includes polymers where the metal is incorporated into the backbone or the side chain of a conjugated polymer. Kingsborough and Swager wrote an excellent review of the field up to late 1998, and we do not intend to repeat any of their efforts herein. However, due to the expansive nature of this field and the presence of many specialized reviews, including ones in this book, we have decided to present a more focused review of the field. The chapter is primarily organized by the class of polymers: (1) metal-contg. porphyrin and phthalocyanine polymers; (2) metal-contg. polythiophene-based polymers; and (3) other metal-contg. conjugated polymers. Section II includes all conjugated polymers with metalloporphyrins or metallophthalocyanines in the backbone. Section III includes all polythiophene derivs., except those contg. porphyrins or phthalocyanines. Section IV includes all remaining conjugated metallopolymers, for example, those with Schiff bases, bipyridines, or phenanthrolines in the backbone. We have tried to describe the synthesis and structure of each polymer presented, and summarize any related studies. Although many of the developments here are extensions of earlier work, this chapter focuses on results reported since 1998. Refs. to the original work can usually be found in the papers discussed here. We close the chapter with a discussion of progress, challenges, and future directions for the field. [on SciFinder(R)]