This Brief presents for the first time a detailed historical overview of
the development of acetylene polymers, beginning with the initial
discovery of acetylene in 1836 and continuing up through the 2000 Nobel
Prize in Chemistry. The polymerization of acetylene is most commonly
associated with polyacetylene, which was found to be conductive when
treated with oxidizing agents such as Br2 or I2 in the mid‐to‐late
1970s. In fact, under the right conditions, oxidized polyacetylenes can
exhibit conductivities into the metallic regime, thus providing the
first example of an organic polymer exhibiting metallic conductivity. As
a consequence, the 2000 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Hideki
Shirakawa, Alan MacDiarmid, and Alan Heeger for this pioneering
research, the award citation reading "for the discovery and development
of electrically conductive polymers." Because of this, most incorrectly
view polyacetylene, as well as conducting polymers in general, to
originate in the 1970s.
In this work, the author examines the polymerization of acetylene from
early thermal polymerization studies to the ultimate production of the
fully conjugated polyacetylene. Although true polyacetylene was not
successfully produced until the 1950s by Giulio Natta, the
polymerization of acetylene dates back to 1866 with the work of
Marcellin Berthelot. These initial efforts were continued by a range of
scientists to produce a polymeric material collectively given the name
cuprene in 1900 by Paul Sabatier. Between the initial cuprene studies
and the production of true polyacetylene, two related materials were
also studied, usually referred to as polyenes and polyvinylenes.
Although both of these materials could be thought of as forms of
polyacetylene, neither was actually generated from the direct
polymerization of acetylene. Readers will gain insight into the fact
that polyacetylene and conducting organic polymers have a much longer
history than commonly believed and involved the work of a significant
number of Nobel Laureates.
