Two-photon chemistry: facile synthesis of naphthalene- and anthracene-labelled polystyrene by photolysis of aromatic esters

Photolysis of 9-anthrylmethyl 9-anthrylacetate and 1-naphthylmethyl 1-naphthylacetate in the presence of polystyrene yields polymers which are labelled with the fluorescent groups of anthrylmethyl and naphthylmethyl, respectively; this novel technique for the fluorescent labelling of polystyrene is believed to involve two-photon excitation.