Synthesis and characterization of new copolymers based on fluorenylidene-linked conjugated oligo(p-phenylene)s

A group of alternating, thermally stable, fluorescent copolymers consisting of fluorenylidene-linked conjugated oligo(p-phenylene) segments is present ed. The copolymers have been prepared by the palladium-catalyzed Suzuki pol ycondensation method. Analogous model compounds have been also prepared. Th e copolymers obtained are found to be soluble and easily processable from c onventional organic solvents such as chloroform and have been characterized by H-1 and C-13 NMR spectroscopy, FT-IR spectroscopy and elemental analysi s. The degree of polymerization has been estimated by gel permeation chroma tography (GPC). The thermal properties of the copolymers have been characte rized by scanning calorimetry (DSC). The results UV/VIS spectroscopy indica te that electronic can easily be tailored by a variation of the and structu re of the chromophore unit and are independent of the length of the polymer main chain.