Self‐assembly of π‐conjugated bis(terpyridine) ligands with zinc(II) ions: New metallosupramolecular materials for optoelectronic applications

Abstract A series of main‐chain metallopolymers ( P1–P10 ) was prepared by the self‐assembly of rigid‐linear π‐conjugated bis(terpyridine) monomers ( 1–10 ) with Zn II ions and was fully characterized. The polymerization was additionally confirmed by UV/vis titration experiments. A strong increase in viscosities (around 1.6 times) relative to those of the monomer solutions was found. The thermal stability of P1–P10 compared with that of 1–10 was enhanced as a result of the metallopolymerization. The electro‐optical properties of the materials were investigated in detail. Tuning of the electrochemical and photophysical properties was enabled; thus, bright purple to green photoluminescent (PL) emission (PL quantum yields of 0.12–0.81) for P1–P10 was observed in solution with the emission color strongly depending on the nature of the π‐conjugated bis(terpyridine) system. Thin homogeneous films of P6 were prepared by solution processing, that is, spin‐coating and inkjet‐printing, and exhibited intense yellow PL emission in the solid state. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 47: 4083–4098, 2009