Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Dreyer, Daniel R
• Miller, Daniel J
• Freeman, Benny D
• Paul, Donald R
• Bielawski, Christopher W

Titel

Elucidating the Structure of Poly(dopamine)

Ist Teil von

• Langmuir, 2012-04, Vol.28 (15), p.6428-6435

Ort / Verlag

Washington, DC: American Chemical Society

Erscheinungsjahr

2012

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Herein we propose a new structure for poly(dopamine), a synthetic eumelanin that has found broad utility as an antifouling agent. Commercially available 3-hydroxytyramine hydrochloride (dopamine HCl) was polymerized under aerobic, aqueous conditions using tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane (TRIS) as a basic polymerization initiator, affording a darkly colored powder product upon isolation. The polymer was analyzed using a variety of solid state spectroscopic and crystallographic techniques. Collectively, the data showed that in contrast to previously proposed models, poly(dopamine) is not a covalent polymer but instead a supramolecular aggregate of monomers (consisting primarily of 5,6-dihydroxyindoline and its dione derivative) that are held together through a combination of charge transfer, π-stacking, and hydrogen bonding interactions.