Electrochemical synthesis of Cu-containing polyheteroarylenes and study of their catalytic properties

Method of electrochemical synthesis of new Cu-containing polyheteroarylenes that have biquinolyl units in their main chain is developed on the base of the soluble anode technique. The study of electrochemical properties of thus obtained Cu-containing polymer and the corresponding monomer complex revealed existence of two types of coordination environment: (1) copper Cu(I) in the tetrahedral surrounding of two biquinolyl ligands and (2) copper Cu(I) bound with only one biquinolyl fragment. The complexes with one biquinolyl polymer ligand showed high activity as catalysts for O2 reduction in the presence of hydroquinone that is converted to quinone in the course of the reaction.