Synthesis and electro-optical properties of an ionic conjugated polymer: Poly[N-(6-azidohexyl)-2-ethynylpyridinium iodide]

An azide group-containing conjugated ionic polymer was synthesized by the direct polymerization of 2-ethynylpyridine and 6-azidohexyl iodide at 60 °C in methanol without any additional initiator or catalyst. This reaction proceeded well in homogeneous manner to give a moderate yield of the polymer (yield: 71%). The initial light-brown solution of 2-ethynylpyridine and 6-azidohexyl iodide became a viscous dark-red solution as the polymerization proceeded. The FT-IR spectrum of the polymer did not show the acetylenic CC bond stretching (2110 cm−1) and acetylenic C–H bond stretching (3293 cm−1) frequencies of 2-ethynylpyridine. This polymer was completely soluble in water, methanol, DMF, and DMSO, and the polymer was found to be mostly amorphous. The photoluminescence (PL) spectra of poly[N-(6-azidohexyl)-2-ethynylpyridinium iodide] showed that the photoluminescence peak is located at 596 nm, corresponding to a photon energy of 2.08 eV.