BULLETIN OF THE CHEMICAL SOCIETY OF ETHIOPIA, vol.23, no.1, pp.55-62, 2009 (SCI-Expanded)
The conditions for oxidative condensation of 2-[(4-iodophenylimino)methyl]phenol (IPIMP) were studied with air and NaOCI as oxidants in an aqueous alkaline medium between 50 and 90 degrees C. Size exclusion chromatography (SEC) showed that the number-average molecular weight (M(n)), weight-average molecular weight (M(w)) and polydispersity index (PDI) values, respectively, were 1250, 1300 g mol(-1) and 1.040 for oxidation with NaOCI and 2200, 2500 g mol(-1) and 1.136 for oxidation by air. With the optimum reaction conditions, the yield of OIPIMP was found to be 67 % with NaOCI, and 29 % with air, as oxidant. The OIPIMP was characterized by (1)H-NMR, (13)C-NMR, FT-IR, UV-Vis and elemental analysis. Metal complexes of the oligomer were shown to be more thermally stable than OIPIMP itself.