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M. Homocianu et al. / Journal of Molecular Liquids 202 (2015) 62–67
Table 2
Solubility of polymers.
ether)s. It has been demonstrated that heterocycles, as well as the ke-
tone group, can activate aryl halides towards nucleophilic aromatic sub-
stitution polymerization generating high molecular weight poly(aryl-
ether)s. The oxadiazole moiety and the ketone group in 2,5-bis(4-
fluorophenyl)-1,3,4-oxadiazole or 4,4′-difluorodiphenyl ketone, respec-
tively, act as activating groups: they can accept a negative charge and
lower the activating energy for the displacement of the p-substituted
fluoro group through a Meisenheimer complex [6,21,22]. The structures
of monomer Q and of polymers Q-DBF, Ox-Q and Ox-BisA are illustrated
in Fig. 1.
Polymer
Solvent
NMP
DMAc
DMF
Chloroform
DCE
Acetone
DMSO
Q-DBF
Ox-Q
Ox-BisA
+
+
+−
+
+
+
+−
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
−
−
−
−
−
−
NMP = N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone; DMAc = N,N-dimethylacetamide; DMF = N,N-dimeth-
yl-formamide; DCE = dichloroethane; DMSO = dimethyl sulfoxide; + soluble; − insolu-
ble; +− partial soluble.
The inherent viscosity values of Ox-BisA, Ox-Q and Q-DBF, deter-
mined in NMP, were of 0.39, 0.54 and 0.48 dL g−1, respectively. The
values of weight-average molecular weight (Mw) ranged between
8800 and 21,000 g mol−1, the number-average molecular weight
(Mn) values between 16,800 and 66,000 g mol−1 and the polydispersity
Mw/Mn between 1.91 and 3.14 (Table 1).
The polymers were soluble in polar solvents, such as NMP, N,N-
dimethylacetamide, and N,N-dimethylformamide, and in chlorinated
solvents, such as chloroform or dichloroethane. They were insoluble in
acetone or even dimethyl sulfoxide. Polymer Q-DBF was partially solu-
ble in DMF (Table 2). The good solubility of these polymers was due
to the presence of flexible ether linkages which determined an increase
in macromolecular chain flexibility. Also, in the case of polymers Ox-Q
and Q-DBF, the bulky phenylquinoxaline units disturbed the packing
of the macromolecular chains, thus facilitating the diffusion of small
molecules of solvent which led to a better solubility.
higher degree of conjugation provided by the oxadiazole unit compared
to that imparted by the diphenyl ketone group. In contrast with the
spectral pattern of phenylquinoxaline derivatives, Ox-BisA presents
only an absorption band around 300 nm (Table 3) due to the oxadiazole
chromophore, confirming that the second absorption band originates
from the phenylquinoxaline core. Some photophysical characteristics
of the investigated compounds in various solvents are listed in Table 3.
3.3. Steady-state emission spectra and fluorescence lifetime decays
The emission spectra of compounds Q, Q-DBF and Ox-Q in chloro-
form solution are presented in Fig. 3. As may be noted from Fig. 3 and
Table 3, it can observe that these compounds show an emission maxi-
mum ranging from 410 to 432 nm, depending on the solvent. The fluo-
rescence intensity of these bands decreased when the samples were
excited with the wavelength corresponding to the absorption maxi-
mum of Band II, as compared with the emission intensity obtained
under excitation with the wavelength of Band I. As in the case of the ab-
sorption spectra, the emission maxima of Q-DBF and Ox-Q are blue-
shifted in comparison with that of Q, and the fluorescence maximum
of Q-DBF is also blue-shifted, as opposed to that of Ox-Q (Fig. 3). The
3.2. UV–visible spectral characterization
The optical properties of bis(hydroxyphenylquinoxaline), Q, and
polymers Q-DBF, Ox-Q and Ox-BisA, were investigated by UV–Vis ab-
sorption and photoluminescence measurements. The electronic absorp-
tion spectra of phenylquinoxaline compounds in chloroform solution
are shown in Fig. 2a. Bis(hydroxyphenylquinoxaline), Q, and polymers
Q-DBF and Ox-Q displayed two main absorption bands an intense
band (Band I) in the wavelength range 250–325 nm and the second
less intense band (Band II) located around 325–425 nm (Fig. 2a). The
higher energy bands (Band I) are assigned to the absorption of phenyl
rings from the phenylquinoxaline unit, diphenyl ketone group (from
Q-DBF) or diphenyl-1,3,4-oxadiazole unit (from Ox-Q sample), while
the low-energy bands (Band II) are due to the π–π* transition of the
phenylquinoxaline moiety [23].
The spectral shape and band positions of the compound Q are differ-
ent from those of its derivatives, Q-DBF and Ox-Q, in chloroform solu-
tion. The absorption characteristics of these derivatives present the
strongest differences in the region of Band I. It is noted that this absorp-
tion band exhibits a prominent maximum (centered on 275 nm for Q,
for example) accompanied by a shoulder on both the left and right
sides of the spectrum (Fig. 2a). The I- and II-absorption bands were
fitted using the deconvolution of the initially overlapped absorption
spectrum (Fig. 2b). The spectral differences (position of the shoulders)
can be the consequence of possible intermolecular interactions within
the systems and the electron delocalization. The longest wavelength ab-
sorption band of Ox-Q and Q-DBF (Band II) is blue-shifted relative in re-
lation to that of Q. As expected, a hypsochromic shift in the absorption
maximum of Q-DBF occurred, as opposed to that of Ox-Q, due to a
Table 1
Inherent viscosity and GPC data of the polymers.
Polymer
ηinh
Mn
Mw
Mw/Mn
(dL g−1
)
(g mol−1
)
(g mol−1
)
Q-DBF
Ox-Q
Ox-BisA
0.48
0.54
0.39
19,700
21,000
8800
56,000
66,000
16,800
2.84
3.14
1.91
Fig. 2. (a) Absorption spectra of Q, Q-DBF and Ox-Q in CHCl3 solution. (b) Gaussian decom-
ηinh = inherent viscosity (20 °C, 0.5 g/100 mL, NMP).
position of the absorption spectra of Q-DBF, in chloroform solution.