Experimental and Theoretical Studies of Novel Azo Benzene Functionalized Conjugated Polymers: In-vitro Antileishmanial Activity and Bioimaging

To study the effect of insertion of azobenzene moiety on the spectral, morphological and fluorescence properties of conventional conducting polymers, the present work reports ultrasound-assisted polymerization of azobenzene with aniline, 1-naphthylamine, luminol and o-phenylenediamine. The chemical structure and polymerization was established via Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance ((1)H-NMR) spectroscopy, while the electronic properties were explored via ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) spectroscopy. Theoretical IR and UV spectra were computed using DFT/B3LYP method with 6–311G basis set while theoretical (1)H-NMR spectra was obtained by gauge independent atomic orbital (GIAO) method. The theoretically computed spectra were found to be in close agreement with the experimental findings confirming the chemical as well as electronic structure of the synthesized polymers. Morphology was investigated by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy studies. Fluorescence studies revealed emission ranging between 530–570 nm. The polymers also revealed high singlet oxygen ((1)O(2)) generation characteristics. In-vitro antileishmanial efficacy as well as live cell imaging investigations reflected the potential application of these polymers in the treatment of leishmaniasis and its diagnosis.