Ferrocene Polymers Obtained by the Polycondensation of Ferrocene with Dicarboxylic Acid Chlorides

The polycondensation reactions of ferrocene with terephthaloyl and adipoyl chloride were investigated in the presence of AlCl3, ZnCl2, or FeCl3 as the catalyst and in dichloromethane, n-hexane, carbon tetrachloride, or dioxane as the solvent. With terephthaloyl chloride, the highest polymer yield was obtained when AlCl3 in n-hexane was used, and the product was mainly of a polyketone structure. The polycondensation with adipoyl chloride afforded the most satisfactory result when ferrocene was treated in liquid adipoyl chloride with neither catalyst nor solvent, and a product with the expected structure was obtained. The average molecular weights of the products are in the range of 3000–7000. Polymers obtained by polycondensation with terephthaloyl and succinyl chloride are paramagnetic and show the temperature dependence characteristic of semi-conductivity.