The effect of cucurbit[n]uril on the solubility, morphology, and the photophysical properties of nonionic conjugated polymers in an aqueous medium

Abstract

The effects of cucurbit[n]uril on the dissolution and the photophysical properties of nonionic conjugated polymers in water are described. For this purpose, a fluorine-based polymer, namely, poly[9,9-bis{6(N,N-dimethylamino) hexyl}fluorene-co-2,5-thienylene (PFT) was synthesized and characterized by spectroscopic techniques including 1D and 2D NMR, UV-vis, fluorescent spectroscopy, and matrix-assisted laser desorption mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS). For the first time, it was demonstrated that a nonionic conjugated polymer can be made soluble in water through an inclusion complex formation with CB8. The structure of the complex was elucidated by NMR experiments including 1H and selective 1D-NOESY. This complex emits green and is highly fluorescent with fluorescent quantum yield of 35%. In contrast, CB6 or water-soluble CB7 although they are chemically identical to CB8 do not have any effect on the dissolution and photophysical properties of PFT. By preparing a protonated version of PFT, the optical properties of PFT in methanol, protonated PFT and PFT@CB8 in water have been studied and compared. It was also observed that the morphology of the polymer PFT was affected by the presence of CB8. Thus CB8-assisted self-assembly of polymer chains leads to vesicles formation; these structures were characterized by DLS, AFM, SEM, and TEM fluorescent optical microscopy.