Poly(binaphthalenevinylene-alt-phenylenevinylene) derivatives : Novel luminescent polymers for light-emitting devices

Novel conjugated light-emitting polymers were synthesized via a Wittig-Horner condensation reaction between a binaphthyl dicarbaldehyde and a series of electron-rich or electron-deficient aryl diphosphonates. After comparing these materials with the model compound, 4c, it was revealed that the introduction of a twisted, non-coplanar binaphthyl structure provided an effective approach for tailoring the spectral characteristics of the polymers and improving their solubility and thermal stability (glass transition temperature, T_g, >200 °C). Furthermore, the band structures of the polymers could be fine-tuned by changing the electronic properties of the bridging aromatic units. The electroluminescence (EL) and device characteristics were also reported in this paper.