Novel isoindigo‐based conjugated polyelectrolytes: Synthesis and fluorescence quenching behavior with water‐soluble poly(p‐phenylenevinylene)s

Two novel ID‐based water‐soluble conjugated polymers (+)‐PIDPV and (?)‐PIDPV were synthesized by Heck coupling reaction. These two polyelectrolytes are both consisted of isoindigo units and phenylenevinylene units. In the UV–vis absorption spectra, both (+)‐PIDPV and (?)‐PIDPV exhibit broad absorption bands that almost cover the whole visible region. Photophysical investigations reveal that the fluorescence of water‐soluble PPV can be efficiently quenched by oppositely charged PIDPV at a very low concentration. Cationic PPV shows an efficient quenching effect with Κ_SV = 1.01 × 10⁶ M^?1 in the presence of (?)‐PIDPV while the anionic PPV gives a lager quenching constant with Κ_SV = 1.71 × 10⁶ M^?1 in the presence of (+)‐PIDPV. Furthermore, the blend films of water‐soluble PPVs and oppositely charged PIDPV also exhibit excellent quenching effect. These properties suggest that (+)‐PIDPV and (?)‐PIDPV are promising materials in the application of ionic photoactive layer in the organic solar cells. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2015 , 53, 2223–2237