Synthesis and optical properties of poly(tetramethylsilarylenesiloxane) derivative bearing diphenylcyclopentadithiophene moiety

The thermal and optical properties of a novel diphenylcyclopentadithiophene-based poly(tetramethylsilarylenesiloxane) derivative (P1), which was prepared via polycondensation of a novel disilanol monomer, i.e., 2,6-bis(dimethylhydroxysilyl)-4,4-diphenylcyclopentadithiophene (M1), were investigated. P1 exhibited good solubility in common organic solvents, such as benzene, toluene, chloroform, dichloromethane and THF at ambient temperature. The glass transition temperature (T_g) of P1 was determined by differential scanning calorimetry to be 109 °C. No melting temperature (T_m) of P1 was observed, indicating the obtained P1 was an amorphous polymer. The temperature at 5% weight loss (T_d5) of P1 was 454 °C, indicating the rather good thermostability of P1. Bathochromic and hyperchromic effects were observed in the absorption and fluorescence spectra by introducing dimethylsilyl substituents onto 4,4-diphenylcyclopentadithiophene skeleton. The fluorescence quantum yields (Φ_Fs) of M1 and P1 in chloroform were determined to be 0.36 and 0.39, respectively. It was revealed that M1 and P1 exhibited the higher fluorescence intensity than diphenylcyclopentadithiophene owing to the cooperative effects of the introduction of diphenyl groups onto spiro carbon of cyclopentadithiophene as well as dimethylsilyl moieties onto 2- and 6-position of cyclopentadithiophene skeleton.