(Hetero) Arylene Polymers Having Polystyrene Chains as Branches

Summary : Four monomers ; 1,4‐ bis (1‐naphthyl) benzene ( 5 and 7 ) and 1,4‐ bis (2‐ thienyl)benzene ( 6 and 8 ) containing one or two polystyrene short chains substituted in 2 or 2, 5 positions of central phenylene ring were synthesized by Suzuki coupling reaction of two polystyrene based macromonomers ( 3 and 4 ) with 1‐naphthalene‐ and 2‐thiophene boronic acid, respectively. By chemical oxidative polymerization using FeCl 3 as oxidant, copolymers containing alternating phenylene and binaphthyl ( 9 , 11 ) or phenylene and bithienyl groups ( 10 , 12 ) and polystyrene as side chains have obtained. The exact control of polystyrene branch length was performed by atom transfer radical polymerization of styrene using as initiators 1,4 dibromo‐2‐(bromomethyl)benzene ( 1 ) and 1,4‐dibromo‐2,5 di(bromomethyl)benzene ( 2 ). Polymers were characterized by FT‐IR, 1 H‐NMR, UV and fluorescence spectroscopy and thermal methods.