A simple synthetic route for neutral and ionic non-conjugated phosphorescent iridium-containing copolymers

Abstract Series of neutral and ionic non-conjugated metal-containing copolymers are readily prepared via the free-radical copolymerization of benzyl methacrylate (BzMA) with two phosphorescent Ir(III) complexes, [Ir(ppy) 2 (AIm)Cl]( 1 ) and [Ir(ppy) 2 (AIm) 2 ]PF 6 ( 2 PF 6 ), respectively. The copolymers are soluble in polar organic solvents, easily forming a film on glass, aluminum foil or plastic materials. The neutral copolymers have weight-average molecular weights (M w ) of ca . 30,000–60,000 g/mol. Although the thermal stabilities of the neutral and ionic copolymers both increase with increasing amount of Ir(III) complex, the ionic copolymers are more thermally stable than their neutral analogs. With a suitable amount of Ir(III)-complex content, the neutral non-conjugated copolymerization between the Ir complex and BzMA can induce a blue shift in the max value of copolymer relative to that observed for complex 1 . For the neutral and ionic copolymers, the observed max value in the film are red-shifted to those observed in solution.