Microwave–Assisted Synthesis of Polybenzimidazoles for Use as Analytical Sensors

Benzimidazoles are a diverse group of nitrogen containing heterocycles that are found in many naturally–occurring biomolecules, pharmaceuticals, and synthetic products. Common benzimidazole syntheses often involve the condensation of carbonyl containing compounds with o–phenylenediamine, however, most of the published synthetic methods require high temperature refluxes and long reaction times. The goal of this research was to show how microwave reactor technology could be utilized to produce polybenzimidazoles from polyaminopolycarboxylates and various diamines more efficiently. This presentation will show how reaction times were reduced from the typical 24–hour reflux to less than 1–hour using a CEM Microwave Reactor. In this research a variety of new polybenzamidazoles were synthesized and characterized including the UV–Vis and fluorescence spectroscopic properties