Fluorescent Polyethers Incorporating Perylene Diimide Derivatives: Investigating a Strategy of Limiting Aggregation

ABSTRACT Incorporating perylene diimide (PDI) into polymeric structures is a promising strategy to suppress its aggregation‐caused quenching. However, achieving this while maintaining desirable material properties remains a challenge. This work aims to the realization of polymeric fluorophores via the incorporation of perylene diimide (PDI) derivatives onto the main chain of poly(arylene ethers) containing different organic chromophores as comonomers. The potentiality of PDI‐based polymers for the emitting layer of organic light‐emitting diodes is studied herein. Different percentages of the perylene diimide derivative were used to ensure emission from the PDI core components, while minimizing their strong π–π stacking tendency and thus their emission quenching. Two different chromophore combinations were employed with the potential to obtain white light‐emitting copolymers. The first involved the use of two fluorophores, namely, a diacetoxystyrylcarbazole derivative along with the perylene moiety. The latter involved the use of a diacetoxystyryl anthracene moiety to facilitate better energy transfer to the perylene moiety. In both cases, the emission of the perylene core component was observed, providing a synthetic strategy to suppress the aggregation tendency of PDI.