The green synthesis of oligo(azomethine)s based on p-anisidine and o-anisidine: reaction conditions, electrochemical and thermal properties

Schiff bases and their conjugated oligo(azomethine)s have been synthesized via condensation and oxidative polycondensation of o-anisidine (OA) with 2-hydroxy-1-naphthaldehyde (2-HNA) and p-anisidine (PA) with 4-hydroxy benzaldehyde (4-HBA), respectively. The oxidative polycondensation reaction conditions of 1-[(2-methoxyphenylimino)methyl]naphthalen-2-ol (1,2-MPIMN) and 4-[(4-methoxyphenylimino)methyl]phenol (4,4-MPIMP) were studied by oxidants such as air and aqueous solutions of H2O2 and NaOCl in different concentrations in an aqueous alkaline medium between 50 °C and 90 °C at different reaction times. The structures of polymers were confirmed by FT-IR, UV-Vis and 1H-13C-NMR measurements. The molecular weights and surface morphologies of oligomers were determined by size exclusion chromatography (SEC) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), respectively. Electrochemical and thermal features of compounds were studied using UV-Vis spectroscopies, cycling voltammetry (CV), and TG-DTA. The mass losses values ​​of the 1,2-MPIMN, oligo(1,2-MPIMN), 4,4-MPIMP, and oligo(4,4-MPIMP) were calculated from the thermogravimetric curves as 98.00%, 53.52%, 69.00%, and 58.70%, respectively, at 1000 °C. The HOMO, LUMO levels, electrochemical (E'g), and optical band gap energies (Eg) values of the compounds were calculated from CV and UV-Vis data. The E'g values of 1,2-MPIMN, oligo(1,2-MPIMN), 4,4-MPIMP, and oligo(4,4-MPIMP) were found to be 2.64, 1.54, 2.31, and 2.16 eV, respectively. The electrical properties of monomers and oligomers were determined at room temperature.