Synthesis and characterization of alternating fluorene-thiophene copolymers bearing ethylene glycol side-chains

Abstract

New alternating fluorene-thiophene copolymers are introduced bearing polar ethylene glycol-carboxylate functionalities on the thiophene ring to achieve enhanced solubility in polar solvents. Suzuki polycondensation was applied to synthesize a set of three polymers with differing lengths of the ethylene glycol side-chains. The polymers are thermally stable up to temperatures of 300°C. Solutions of the polymers in CHCl3 show an absorption maximum at approximately 397 nm and a luminescence maximum of 472 nm in solutions with quantum yield of 30%. The highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) levels have been determined to be at -5.7 and -2.6 eV, respectively. © 2011 The Author(s).