Multichromic polymers based on pyrene clicked thienylpyrrole

In this study, the effect of pendant pyrene on the optical and electronic properties of poly(2,5-dithienylpyrrole)s was studied. For this purpose a new pyrene coupled 2,5-dithienylpyrrole derivative (SNS-pyrene) was synthesized through click reaction. SNS-pyrene was electrochemically polymerized and its electrochemical and optical properties were investigated by electrochemical and optical techniques. The polymer had a band gap of 3.36 eV and displayed light green to blue color variation upon oxidation in less than 2.48s. Additionally, electrochemical copolymerization of SNS-pyrene with 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene was achieved whilst a detailed investigation was performed on the effect of electrochemical polymerization conditions on the optoelectronic properties of the copolymers. Studies revealed that the copolymers exhibit multichromic reversible redox behavior with lower band gaps and shorter switching times than their parent polymer, P(SNS-pyrene) (c) 2014 Society of Chemical Industry.