Photophysics of a polyether containing tetramethylanthracene units

PESA is a rigid rod polymer incorporating anthrylene units in its backbone. The photophysics of PESA in solution are representative of the isolated anthracene chromophore. In the solid state, strong interchain excimer emission is observed. Solid PESA undergoes efficient photocrosslinking which we assign to interchain anthracene dimer formation. Competitive quenching of photocrosslinking by diphenyliodonium hexafluorophosphate suggests that localized singlet excitation energy can migrate among chains until trapped by excimer formation. The excimer state is intermediate in photocrosslinking.