Soluble blue light emitting pyridine-containing polymers prepared by oxidative-coupling copolymerization

Novel polymers containing pyridine moieties in main chains have been prepared by facile oxidative-coupling co-polymerization of pyridine N-oxide with N-alkyl carbazole and fluorene as the precursor polymers, which were reduced to the pyridine-containing polymers respectively. The polymers were characterized by FT-IR, 1H NMR, UV–Vis, X-ray, thermo-gravimetric analysis, and fluorescence spectroscopy. The pyridine-containing polymers good solubility in convenient organic solvents, high thermal stability with the onset decomposition temperature above 310 °C. The electrochemical behaviors of the polymers were investigated by cyclic voltammetry; the HOMO and LUMO energy level of the polymers were estimated from the electrochemistry and UV–Vis spectroscopy. The fluorescence spectra of the pyridine-containing polymers display blue light emitting properties in both solution and solid-state film.