An emissive rigid tetraphenylethylene-based molecule and its thermal polymerization

Abstract

Emissive molecules which not only emit at low concentrations, but also are fluorescent in aggregated state, have attracted considerable interests. Herein, we report an emissive molecule 1 based on tetraphenylethylene (TPE) in which two diacetylenes (DAs) are induced to restrict the rotation of phenyl rings in TPE, and consequently preserves the fluorescence in diluted solution, while it still shows aggregation-induced emission (AIE) effect in the solid state. Crystalline microfibers of 1 with DAs well-aligned are also constructed upon vapor diffusion method. Furthermore, the thermal induced polymerization of DAs in 1 could occur via heating the single crystals of 1 to afford a new porous polymer.