INTRAMOLECULAR FORMATION OF EXCIMERS IN MODEL COMPOUNDS FOR POLYESTERS OBTAINED FROM 2,6-NAPHTHALENE DICARBOXYLIC-ACID AND CYCLOHEXANEDIOLS

The fluorescence in dilute solution has been measured as a function of solvent viscosity for four bichromophoric models for polyesters with naphthalene in the rigid aromatic unit and diols derived from cyclohexane as the flexible spacer. The spacers are 1,2-cis-cyclohexanediol, 1,2-trans-cyclohexanediol, a 1:2 mixture of 1,3- cis- and 1,3-trans-cyclohexanediols, and a 1:2 mixture of 1,4-cis- and 1,4-trans-cyclohexanediols. The shape of the emission spectra for the molecules in this series is less sensitive to the viscosity of the medium than was the case for an analogous series in which a methylene or oxyethylene spacer replaces the cyclohexanediol spacer. The dependence of the excimer emission on the type of spacer is different also in the series in which the rigid units contain naphthalene or benzene. When the rigid units contain naphthalene, excimer formation is maximal if the spacer contains 1,2-trans-cyclohexanediol, but this spacer produces a molecule with a very small tendency for excimer formation in its polymers with terephthalate. A conformational analysis correctly concludes that the spacer most conducive to excimer formation should be 1,2-trans-cyclohexanediol, but it does not identify the correct order of the remaining three bichromophoric model compounds. The problem may reside in the method for taking into account the finite width of the torsional well associated with each rotational isomer. (C) 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.