Synthesis and properties of chiral thienylene-phenylene copolymers

Several kinds of thienylene-phenylene copolymers were synthesized by introducing the chiral alkoxy substituents of both R and S configurations in their side chains to generate circularly polarized fluorescence with red, green, and blue (RGB) colors. All of the polymers synthesized were fusible and soluble in common organic solvents such as THF and chloroform. The polymers showed main-chain type liquid crystallinity assignable to nematic and chiral nematic phase. The absorption and fluorescence bands of the polymers were red shifted with an increase of the ratio of thienylene to phenylene ring in the repeating unit. The polymers exhibited blue to red colored fluorescence in both solution and film. Besides, the mixture of the polymers with RGB colored fluorescence showed white emission.