Synthesis and properties of photoluminescent polymers bearing electron‐facilitating oxadiazole derivative side groups

Poly(p‐divinylene phenylene) derivatives bearing fluorene and carbazole units in the main chain and 5‐phenyl‐1,3,4‐oxadiazole moieties as side groups were prepared by the polycondensation of a newly synthesized monomer, [2‐(5′‐phenyl‐1′,3′,4′‐oxadiazole‐2′‐yl)‐1,4‐xylylene]bis(triphenyl phosphonium bromide) (OXAD), with 9,9‐dibutylfluorene‐2,2′‐dicarbaldehyde (DBFDA) and 9‐(2‐ethylhexyl)carbazole‐3,6‐dicarbaldehyde (EHCDA), which gave DBFDA–OXAD and EHCDA–OXAD. Analogues of these polymers without the side groups were also synthesized by the reaction of 1,4‐xylene bis(triphenyl phosphonium bromide) (PXYL) with the dicarbaldehydes, which gave DBFDA–PXYL and EHCDA–PXYL. All the synthesized polymers are soluble in organic solvents, giving films of good quality. The polymers are stable beyond 375 °C. They emit blue and blue‐green light, and their quantum yields are 38–79% in solution and 1–24% in film, depending on the fluorene and carbazole units as well as the side groups. In particular, the OXAD‐based polymers contain hole‐facilitating backbones and electron‐facilitating side groups, perhaps allowing these polymers to transport both holes and electrons. Overall, the synthesized polymers are potential candidates for the fabrication of light‐emitting devices. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 40: 1173–1183, 2002     

Iridium complex grafted to 3,6‐carbazole‐alt‐tetraphenylsilane copolymers for blue electrophosphorescence

We designed a 3,6‐dibromo‐9‐hexyl‐9H‐carbazole derivative with the blue emissive iridium complex bis[2‐(4,6‐difluorophenyl)pyridyl‐N,C^2′](picolinato)iridium(III) (FIrpic) linked at the alkyl terminal. Based on this monomer, novel 3,6‐carbazole‐alt‐tetraphenylsilane copolymers grafted with FIrpic were synthesized by palladium‐catalyzed Suzuki coupling reaction, and the content of FIrpic in the polymers could be controlled by feed ratio of the monomers. The polymer films mainly show blue emission from FIrpic, and the emission intensity from the polymer backbones is much weaker compared with the doped analogues, which demonstrates an efficient energy transfer from polymeric host to covalently bonded guest. The phase separation in the polymers was suppressed, which can be identified by atomic force microscopy and designed electroluminescent (EL) devices. EL devices based on the polymers exhibited blue phosphorescence from FIrpic. The luminous efficiency of preliminary devices reached 2.3 cd/A, and the efficiency roll‐off at high current densities was suppressed. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 48: 1859–1865, 2010     

Synthesis and properties of new aromatic polyamides with redox‐active 2,4‐dimethoxytriphenylamine moieties

A new triphenylamine‐based diamine monomer, 4,4′‐diamino‐2″,4″‐dimethoxytriphenylamine ( 2 ), was synthesized from readily available reagents and was reacted with various aromatic dicarboxylic acids to produce a series of aromatic polyamides ( 4a–h ) containing the redox‐active 2,4‐dimethoxy‐substituted triphenylamine (dimethoxyTPA) unit. All the resulting polyamides were readily soluble in polar organic solvents and could be solution cast into tough and flexible films. These polymers exhibited good thermal stability with glass transition temperatures of 243–289 °C and softening temperatures of 238–280 °C, 10% weight loss temperatures in excess of 470 °C in nitrogen, and char yields higher than 60% at 800 °C in nitrogen. The redox behaviors of the polymers were examined using cyclic voltammetry (CV). All these polyamides showed two reversible oxidation processes in the first CV scan. The polymers also displayed low ionization potentials as a result of their dimethoxyTPA moieties. In addition, the polymers displayed excellent stability of electrochromic characteristics with coloration change from a colorless neutral state to green and blue‐purple oxidized states. These anodically coloring polyamides showed high green coloration efficiency (CE = 329 cm²/C), high contrast of optical transmittance change (ΔT% = 84% at 829 nm), and long‐term redox reversibility. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 48: 3392–3401, 2010     

Blue‐light‐emitting and anodically electrochromic materials of new wholly aromatic polyamides derived from the high‐efficiency chromophore 4,4′‐dicarboxy‐4″‐methyltriphenylamine

A series of organosoluble, aromatic polyamides were synthesized from a 4‐methyl‐substituted, triphenylamine‐containing, aromatic diacid monomer, 4,4′‐dicarboxy‐4″‐methyltriphenylamine, which is a blue‐light (454‐nm) emitter with a fluorescence quantum efficiency of 46%. These triphenylamine‐based, high‐performance polymers had strong fluorescence emissions in the blue region with high quantum yields up to 64% and one reversible oxidation redox couple around 1.20 V versus Ag/AgCl in acetonitrile solutions. They exhibited good thermal stability, with 10% weight loss temperatures above 480 °C under a nitrogen atmosphere and with relatively high glass‐transition temperatures (252–309 °C). All the polyamides revealed excellent stability of electrochromic characteristics, changing color from the original pale yellow to blue. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 4095–4107, 2006     

Pyrenoimidazole‐Based Deep‐Blue‐Emitting Materials: Optical,Electrochemical, and Electroluminescent Characteristics

A series of pyrenoimidazoles that contained various functional chromophores, such as anthracene, pyrene, triphenylamine, carbazole, and fluorene, were synthesized and characterized by optical, electrochemical, and theoretical studies. The absorption spectra of the dyes are dominated by electronic transitions that arise from the pyrenoimidazole core and the additional chromophore. All of the dyes exhibited blue‐light photoluminescence with moderate‐to‐high quantum efficiencies. They also displayed high thermal stability and their thermal‐decomposition temperatures fell within the range 462–512 °C; the highest decomposition temperature was recorded for a carbazole‐containing dye. The oxidation propensity of the dyes increased on the introduction of electron‐rich chromophores, such as triphenylamine or carbazole. The application of selected dyes that featured additional chromophores such as pyrene, carbazole, and triphenylamine as blue‐emissive dopants into multilayered organic light‐emitting diodes with a 4,4′‐bis(9H‐carbazol‐9‐yl)biphenyl (CBP) host was investigated. Devices that were based on triphenylamine‐ and carbazole‐containing dyes exhibited deep‐blue emission (CIE 0.157, 0.054 and 0.163, 0.041), whereas a device that was based on a pyrene‐containing dye showed a bright‐blue emission (CIE 0.156, 0.135).     

Interactions of carbon nanotubes with pyrene‐functionalized linear‐dendritic hybrid polymers

A series of linear‐dendritic hybrid polymers, containing pyrene units at the periphery of aliphatic polyester dendrons, were prepared for the purpose of dispersing shortened single‐walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) in tetrahydrofuran (THF). The prepared hybrids contained 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 (G0 through G4) pyrene units and a linear segment composed of polystyrene. It was found that a minimum of four pyrene units was necessary to form a strong enough interaction with SWNTs to enable steric stabilization in solution, when using a linear polymer segment of 11.5 kDa. Increasing either the number of pyrene units per polymer chain or the length of the polymer segment to 18.0 kDa did not improve nanotube solubility, whereas decreasing the polymer length resulted in significantly less effective nanotube dissolution. The G4 dendron alone, without the linear polystyrene segment, was also found to impart solubility to the nanotubes in THF. Interactions between the series of linear‐dendritic hybrids and full‐length multiwalled carbon nanotubes were also investigated, and it was found that the polymers exhibited strong interactions with the multiwalled carbon nanotube surface, resulting in the formation of stable solutions. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 48: 1016–1028, 2010     

New blue electroluminescent n‐type polyfluorene copolymers with a 1,3,4‐oxadiazole unit in the main chain

Novel polyfluorene copolymers alternately having an 1,3,4‐oxadiazole unit in the main chain were prepared by both one‐step and two‐step methods for polyoxadiazole synthesis. They displayed highly efficient blue photoluminescence, the properties of which were affected by the extent of conjugation and the changes in the electron density by a side chain. An electrochemical analysis of the polymers using cyclic voltammetry suggested that they could be used as electron‐transport/hole‐blocking materials as well as blue emission materials for polymer light‐emitting diodes. A simple double‐layer device consisting of poly(N‐vinylcarbazole) as a hole‐transport layer and poly[(9,9′‐didodecylfluorene‐2,7‐diyl)‐alt‐((1,4‐bis(1,3,4‐oxadiazole)‐2,5‐di(2‐ethylhexyloxy)phenylene)‐5,5′‐diyl)] as an emission layer exhibited narrow blue electroluminescence with a maximum at 430 nm. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 1058–1068, 2004     

PEGDA‐based luminescent polymers prepared by frontal polymerization

Frontal polymerization (FP) of poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) was carried out using benzoyl peroxide (BPO) as radical initiator. In addition, a pyrene containing monomer, 1‐pyrenebutyl acrylate (PyBuAc), was incorporated as a fluorescent probe in order to obtain luminescent materials with different chromophore contents. The resulting polymers were characterized by FT‐IR spectroscopy in the solid state and their thermal properties were determined by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Moreover, the optical properties of these materials were studied by absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy. The maximum amount of the incorporated pyrene‐containing monomer into the polymer matrix was limited to 1 wt % by the polymerization process. The obtained labeled polymers poly(PEGDA‐co‐PyBuAc) exhibited a broad absorption band at 345 nm. The fluorescence spectra of these polymers exhibited mainly “monomer emission” so that no excimer emission was observed. It is possible to tune the color of the emitted light by varying the pyrene content in the samples. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2015 , 53, 2890–2897     

Highly efficient and stable blue‐light‐emitting binaphthol‐fluorene copolymers: A joint experimental and theoretical study of the main‐chain chirality

In a quest for the main‐chain chiral and highly stable blue‐light‐emitting π‐conjugated polymers, a novel series of soluble conjugated random and alternating copolymers (PF‐BN) derived from fluorene and axially chiral 1,1′‐binaphthol (BINOL) were successfully synthesized by Suzuki coupling polymerization. The polymer structures, optical properties, and their electrochemical properties were investigated by ¹H NMR, TGA/DSC, UV‐Vis absorption, photoluminescence, cyclic voltammetry, circular dichroism spectroscopy, and DFT calculations. The blue‐light‐emitting BINOL‐containing copolymers with proper content of BINOL show highly efficient photoluminescence and ultra highly stable light‐emission with almost unchanged fluorescent spectra after annealing at 200 °C in air for 10 h. The joint experimental and theoretical study of the main‐chain chirality reveals that (1) the chirality of BINOL can be transferred to the polymer backbone, (2) the effective conjugation length is about one BINOL and three fluorenes, (3) the main active chiral block in the copolymers is probably composed by one BINOL with the other two or three fluorenes, and (4) the dihedral angle in the PF‐BN copolymers should be larger than 105°. The incorporation of BINOL into the polyfluorene backbone is an effective way to produce highly efficient and stable blue‐light‐emitting main‐chain chiral conjugated polymer with interesting optoelectronic properties. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 48: 3868–3879, 2010     

Novel thermally stable poly(amine hydrazide)s and poly(amine‐1,3,4‐oxadiazole)s for luminescent and electrochromic materials

We describe the preparation, characterization, and luminescence of four novel electrochromic aromatic poly(amine hydrazide)s containing main‐chain triphenylamine units with or without a para‐substituted N,N‐diphenylamino group on the pendent phenyl ring. These polymers were prepared from either 4,4′‐dicarboxy‐4″‐N,N‐diphenylaminotriphenylamine or 4,4′‐dicarboxytriphenylamine and the respective aromatic dihydrazide monomers via a direct phosphorylation polycondensation reaction. All the poly(amine hydrazide)s were amorphous and readily soluble in many common organic solvents and could be solution‐cast into transparent and flexible films with good mechanical properties. These poly(amine hydrazide)s exhibited strong ultraviolet–visible absorption bands at 346–348 nm in N‐methyl‐2‐pyrrolidone (NMP) solutions. Their photoluminescence spectra in NMP solutions or as cast films showed maximum bands around 508–544 and 448–487 nm in the green and blue region for the two series of polymers. The hole‐transporting and electrochromic properties were examined by electrochemical and spectroelectrochemical methods. All obtained poly(amine hydrazide)s and poly(amine‐1,3,4‐oxadiazole)s exhibited two reversible oxidation redox couples at 0.8 and 1.24 V vs. Ag/AgCl in acetonitrile solution and revealed excellent stability of electrochromic characteristics, changing color from original pale yellow to green and then to blue at electrode potentials of 0.87 and 1.24 V, respectively. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 43: 3245–3256, 2005     

Hyperbranched‐upon‐dendritic macromolecules as unimolecular hosts for controlled release

Novel amphiphilic hyperbranched‐upon‐dendritic polymers with a dendritic polyester core, a linear poly(ε‐caprolactone) (PCL) inner shell, and a hyperbranched polyglycerol outer shell have been prepared. The structures of the hyperbranched‐upon‐dendritic polymers were characterized by using NMR spectra. The critical aggregating concentrations (CACs) of those amphiphilic hyperbranched‐upon‐dendritic polymers were measured by using pyrene as the polarity probe. To study the encapsulation performances of those hyperbranched‐upon‐dendritic polymers as unimolecular hosts, inter‐molecular encapsulation was carefully prevented by controlling the host concentrations below their CACs and by washing with good organic solvents. The study on encapsulation of two model guest molecules, pyrene and indomethacin, was performed. The amounts of encapsulated molecules were dependent mainly on the size of inner linear shells. About three pyrene molecules or five indomethacin molecules were encapsulated in hyperbranched‐upon‐dendritic polymers with average PCL repeating units of two but different hyperbranched polyglycerol outer shells, whereas about five pyrene molecules or about 12 indomethacin molecules were encapsulated in those with PCL repeating units of nine. The encapsulated molecules could be released in a controlled manner. Thus, the hyperbranched‐upon‐dendritic polymers could be used as unimolecular nanocarriers with controllable molecular encapsulation dosage for controlled release. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 48: 4013–4019, 2010     

Synthesis and characterization of fluorene‐based copolymers containing siloxane or distilbene moieties on their main chain

Two novel types of polyfluorene copolymers containing siloxane linkages or distilbene moieties on their main‐chains were synthesized by Ni(0)‐mediated Yamamoto coupling polymerization. These polymers, designated P2Silo05, P2Silo15, PF‐P02, and PF‐P05 were prepared by copolymerization between 2,7‐dibromo‐9,9′‐dihexylfluorene and bis(bromobenzene)‐terminated disiloxane monomer (for P2Silo05 and P2Silo15) or dibromodistilbene monomer (for PF‐P02 and PF‐P05). All of the polymers were highly soluble in common organic solvents such as chloroform, toluene, and p‐xylene. The glass transition temperatures of the polymers were between 92 and 113 °C, and the decomposition temperatures for a 5% weight loss (T_d) were above 420 °C for all of the polymers, demonstrating high thermal stability. The molecular weight (M_w) of the polymers ranged from 4.2 × 10⁴ to 8.8 × 10⁴. The blue shift of the maximum in the UV‐visible absorption was greater in polymers with a higher molar percentage of siloxane linkages or distilbene moieties than in homo poly (dihexylfluorene) (PDHF). However, the photoluminescence spectra of the polymers were similar to those of PDHF in terms of the onsets and patterns. Single‐layer light‐emitting diodes were fabricated with a configuration of ITO/PEDOT:PSS/polymers/Ca/Al. The maximum electroluminescence emission wavelengths of the polymers were 425–450 nm, corresponding to pure blue light. The CIE co‐ordinates of the polyfluorenes containing siloxane linkages or distilbene moieties ranged from (0.21, 0.21) to (0.17, 0.10), indicating deeper blue light than that of PDHF {CIE co‐ordinates of (0.25, 0.29)}, with P2Silo15 giving the deepest blue‐light {CIE co‐ordinates of (0.17, 0.10)}. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 47: 1595–1608, 2009     

Synthesis and characterization of fluorine‐containing polybenzimidazole for proton conducting membranes in fuel cells

Two new kinds of fluorine‐containing polybenzimidazoles (PBI), poly(2,2′‐(tetrafluoro‐p‐phenylene)‐5,5′‐bibenzimidazole) and poly(2,2′‐tetradecafluoroheptylene‐5,5′‐bibenzimidazole), were synthesized by condensation polymerization of 3,3′‐diaminobenzidine and perfluoroterephthalic acid (or perfluoroazelaic acid), with polyphosphoric acid as solvent. Thermogravimetric analysis results show that the fluorine‐containing polymers synthesized exhibit promising thermal stability. The film‐forming properties of the fluorine‐containing polymers are improved over nonfluorinated PBI. The introduction of fluorine into the backbone of the polymers has significant positive affection on their chemical oxidation stability demonstrated by Fenton test. Compared with poly(2,2′‐(m‐phenylene)‐5,5′‐bibenzimidazole)/phosphoric acid (PA) composite membrane, the resulting fluorinated membranes with a same PA doping level exhibit better flexibility and higher proton conductivity. The maximum proton conductivity gained is 3.05 × 10^?2 S/cm at 150 °C with a PA doping level of 7. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 48: 2115–2122, 2010     

Conjugated copolymers comprised cyanophenyl‐substituted spirobifluorene and tricarbazole‐triphenylamine repeat units for blue‐light‐emitting diodes

A series of conjugated blue‐light‐emitting copolymers, PTC‐1 , PTC‐2 , and PTC‐3, comprised different ratios of electron‐withdrawing segments (spirobifluorene substituted with cyanophenyl groups) and electron‐donating segments (tricarbazole‐triphenylamines), has been synthesized. The structures of these polymers were characterized and their thermal, photophysical, electrochemical, and electroluminescence properties were measured. Incorporation of rigid spirobifluorene units into the copolymers led to blue‐shifted absorption peaks in dilute toluene solution. Cyclic voltammetric measurement indicated the bandgaps of the polymers were in the range of 2.77–2.94 eV. It was found that increasing cyanophenyl‐spirobifluorene content in the polymer backbone lowered both the HOMO and LUMO energy levels of the copolymers, which was beneficial for electron injection/transporting in the polymer layer of the device. OLED device evaluation indicated that all the polymers emitted sky blue to deep blue light when the pure polymers were used as the emissive layers in the devices with a configuration of ITO/PEDOT:PSS/polymers/CsF/Ca/Al. The devices have been optimized by doping 30 wt % PBD into the polymer layers. Among the doped devices, PTC‐2 showed the best performance with the turn‐on voltage of 3.0 V, maximum brightness of 7257 cd/m², maximum current efficiency of 1.76 cd/A, and CIE coordinates of (0.15, 0.14). © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 48: 292–301, 2010     

Synthesis and properties of soluble,fluorescent polyesters and polyethers with substituted m‐terphenyl segments in the main chain

A new series of rigid polyesters and semiflexible polyethers were synthesized from 4,4″‐dihydroxy‐5′‐phenyl or anthracenyl‐m‐terphenyl. The polymers were characterized by viscometry, Fourier transform infrared, NMR, X‐ray, differential scanning calorimetry, thermomechanical analysis, thermogravimetric analysis, ultraviolet–visible, and luminescence spectroscopy. The polyesters were amorphous, whereas some of the polyethers showed a low degree of crystallinity. All the polymers displayed an enhanced solubility even in 1,1,2,2‐tetrachloroethane and tetrahydrofuran. The glass‐transition temperatures were 123–146 °C for the polyesters and 45–117 °C for the polyethers. The polymers were stable up to 213–340 °C and afforded anaerobic char yields of 36–62% at 800 °C. Their optical properties were investigated both in solution and in the solid state. They showed ultraviolet fluorescence, violet‐blue fluorescence, or both with emission maxima at 333–487 nm. The polymers with anthracenyl pendent groups exhibited higher fluorescence quantum yields and emission maxima redshifted compared with the corresponding polymers with phenyl pendent groups. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 38: 2381–2391, 2000     

Highly near‐infrared photoluminescence from aza‐borondipyrromethene‐based conjugated polymers

Near‐infrared (NIR) emissive conjugated polymers were prepared by palladium‐catalyzed Sonogashira polymerization of diiodobenzene‐functionalized aza‐borondipyrromethene (Aza‐BODIPY) monomers, which were substituted at 3 and 5 or 1 and 7 positions on the Aza‐BODIPY core, with 1,4‐diethynyl‐2,5‐dihexadecyloxybenzene or 3,3′‐didodecyl‐2,2′‐diethynyl‐5,5′‐bithiophene. The structures of the polymers were confirmed by ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, ¹¹B NMR, Fourier transform infrared (FT‐IR) spectroscopies, and size exclusion chromatography (SEC). The optical properties were then characterized by UV–vis absorption and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopies, and theoretical calculation using density‐functional theory (DFT) method. The polymers were fusible and soluble in common organic solvents including tetrahydrofuran (THF), o‐xylene, toluene, CHCl₃, and CH₂Cl₂, etc. The UV–vis absorption and PL spectra of the polymers shifted to long wavelength region in comparison with simple Aza‐BODIPY as the counterpart because of extended π‐conjugation of the polymers. The polymers efficiently emitted NIR light with narrow emission bands at 713～777 nm on excitation at each absorption maximum. Especially, the polymer attached 1,4‐diethynyl‐2,5‐dihexadecyloxybenzene to 3,5‐position on the core revealed intense quantum yields (?_F = 24%) in this NIR region (753 nm). © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2010     

Pyrene and anthracene dicarboxylic acids as fluorescent brightening comonomers for polyester

Diacids of fused arenes have been prepared for use as covalently bound fluorescent optical brightening agents in condensation polymers. The monomers: dimethyl 1,6‐pyrene dicarboxylate, dimethyl 1,8‐pyrenedicarboxylate, dimethyl 2,7‐pyrenedicarboxylate, 1,8‐bis(2‐carboxybenzoyl)pyrene dimethyl ester, dimethyl 2,6‐anthracenedicarboxylate, dimethyl 2,7‐anthracenedicarboxylate and dimethyl 9,10‐anthracenedicarboxylate are copolymerized with poly(ethylene terephthalate) and their optical properties are assessed. All of the polymers give blue fluorescence, with the copolymer containing dimethyl 1,6‐pyrenedicarboxylate being the brightest. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 38: 1291–1301, 2000     

Synthesis and properties of new poly(terfluorene) derivatives containing spirobifluorene and electron transport groups for stable blue electroluminescence

We have synthesized three new blue‐emitting poly(terfluorene) derivatives containing spirobifluorene and electron transport groups (quinoline or oxadiazole). The strategy is to connect the monomers via positions 2 and 2′ of spirobifluorene, which significantly restricts the interchain interaction and effectively adjusts the conjugation length. The incorporation of electron‐deficient units (quinoline or oxadiazole) into the positions 7 and 7′ of spirobifluorene tunes the emission band and reduces the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital energy level. Blue electroluminescence with narrow emission was achieved in the devices of ITO/PEDOT/polymer/Ca/Al. The maximum luminances are in the range of 102–235 cd/m² and the maximum photometric efficiencies are in the range of 0.17–0.21 cd/A. All the polymers show good spectral stability, and are promising for use as stable blue‐emitting or electron‐transport/injection materials in polymeric light‐emitting diodes. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 43: 4517–4529, 2005     

Novel aromatic polyamides and polyimides functionalized with 4‐tert‐butyltriphenylamine groups

A new triphenylamine‐containing diamine monomer, 4,4′‐diamino‐4″‐tert‐butyltriphenylamine, was successfully synthesized by the cesium fluoride‐mediated N,N‐diarylation of 4‐tert‐butylaniline with 4‐fluoronitrobenzene, followed by the reduction of the nitro group. The obtained diamine monomer was reacted with various aromatic dicarboxylic acids and tetracarboxylic dianhydrides to produce two series of novel triphenylamine‐based polyamides and polyimides with pendent tert‐butyl substituents. Most of the polymers were readily soluble in polar organic solvents, such as N‐methyl‐2‐pyrrolidone and N,N‐dimethylacetamide (DMAc), and could be solution cast into tough and flexible polymer films. These polymers showed high glass transition temperatures between 282 and 320 °C, and they were fairly stable up to a temperature above 450 °C (for polyamides) or 500 °C (for polyimides). These polymers exhibited UV absorption maxima around 308 to 361 nm. The photoluminescence spectra of the polyamides in DMAc exhibited a peak emission wavelength in the blue at 421–433 nm. Cyclic voltammograms of polyamides and polyimides showed an oxidation wave at 1.0–1.1 V versus Ag/AgCl in an acetonitrile solution. All the polyamides and polyimides exhibited excellent reversibility of electrochromic characteristics by continuous several cyclic scans between 0.0 and 1.1–1.3 V, with a color change from the original pale yellowish neutral form to the green or blue oxidized forms. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 4579–4592, 2006     

Blue light‐emitting poly(p‐phenylenevinylene) derivatives containing alternating conjugated segments and aliphatic spacers

Two new poly(p‐phenylenevinylene) derivatives were prepared by Heck coupling. They contained alternating conjugated segments on the basis of p‐distyrylbenzene and flexible nonconjugated spacers. The synthesized polymers P1 and P2 carried two m‐terphenyl of four tertbutyl pendants, respectively, per repeat unit. Both polymers were amorphous and exhibited satisfactory thermal stability. Polymer P1 displayed a limited solubility in common organic solvents, whereas P2 dissolved readily in these solvents. The glass‐transition temperature values were 128 °C for P1 and 37 °C for P2 . The polymers emitted blue or violet‐blue light with photoluminescent maxima at about 445 and 460 nm for solutions and thin films, respectively. The bulky pendants reduced their tendency to form aggregates. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 1091–1098, 2003