Mechanosynthesis of a phenylenedivinylidenebisquinoline. Optical, morphological and electroluminescence properties

•Mechanosynthesis as an alternative synthetic method to yield a conjugated molecule in good yields and short time.•High fluorescence quantum yield and good nonlinear optical properties.•Intrinsic electroluminescent properties.

A phenylenedivinylidenebisquinoline oligomer was obtained by reacting quinaldine with 2,5-bis(octyloxy)terephtalaldehyde via the Knoevenagel reaction by mechanosynthesis. The product was characterized by 1H Homo-J-Resolved NMR, 13C NMR, FT-IR, Fluorescence, UV–Vis spectroscopy and by FAB+ mass spectrometry. X-ray diffraction studies indicate that the molecule is semicrystalline, while laser scanning confocal microscopy shows that the emission comes from the crystals. As a consequence, the morphology and accordingly the PL values in spun films can be changed by varying the spinning conditions. Intrinsic electroluminescent properties are reported using the ITO/M1AMec/Al single layer configuration.

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