High yield and stereospecific synthesis of segmented poly (p-phenylene vinylene) by the Heck reaction

A new block copolymer comprised of a 2,5 (p-phenylene vinylene) unit alternating with a hexamethylene unit was synthetized by the Heck methodology using phosphite ligands and two different sources of palladium, with high yields and good polymerization degrees. The spectral characteristics of the polymer are in good agreement with those of its oligomer analogue and its quantum yield (as high as 0.78 vs quinine sulfate as standard) showed to be dependant on the source of palladium employed for the Heck reaction. (c) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.