The photolysis of metal carbonyl polymers in solutions and polymer films

Abstract

AbstractThe photochemical behaviour of VIB group metal carbonyl complexes of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and iron tricarbonyl complexes of poly(styrene‐butadiene) (SBS) block‐copolymer have been investigated in this study in dimethylsulphoxide (DMSO) and/or in N,N‐dimethylformamide (DMFA) solutions as well as in polymer films. In the case of metal carbonyl complexes with polyacrylonitrile the primary photochemical reactions have been shown to be the dissociation of pentaand tetracarbonyl complexes which result in the removal of one nitrile ligand followed by an exchange between the nitrile groups and the solvent molecules. The removal of CO has been shown to be the most probable photochemical reaction in films of these polymers. In the case of the iron tricarbonyl complex of SBS, laser photolysis leads to the fast isomerization of the complex followed by the replacement of the olefin groups of the polymer by CO.