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Updated: May 21, 2026

Synthesis of Cyclic Polymers and Characterization of Their Diffusive Motion in the Melt State at the Single Molecule Level
Published on: September 26, 2016
Macromolecules with Tunable Fluorescence via Photochemical Step-Growth Polymerization
Harry Capper-Duffin1, Lewis Chambers1,2, James Blinco1
1Centre for Materials Science and School of Chemistry and Physics, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), 2 George Street, Brisbane, 4000 QLD, Australia.
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We introduce a class of macromolecules whose emission can be modulated by changing the ratio of monomer to excimer fluorescence. The change in fluorescence emission can be finely adapted by altering the number of pyrene units in the polymer backbone, with the density of the pyrene units dictating the intensity of the excimer emission relative to the monomer emission. The fluorescent polymers are prepared via photochemical Diels-Alder step growth polymerization of a bifunctional o-methyl benzaldehyde monomer and a bismaleimide-based pyrene containing a pyrene-free monomer. We carefully evidence the polymer chain structure across different polymer compositions and demonstrate that the excimer emission strength is controllable based on the monomer ratios within the polymer chain. The strength of our approach lies in its ability to produce uniquely emitting polymers using a straightforward synthetic process.
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