Synthesis and characterization of poly(pyridinium salt)s with organic counterions exhibiting both thermotropic liquid-crystalline and light-emitting properties

The synthesis of two new ionic polymers, poly(pyridinium salts) containing bulky organic counterions tosylate or triflimide ions and nine methylene units in their backbones and the characterization of their thermotropic LC properties was investigated. The ionic polymers were prepared by either the ring-transmutation polymerization or the metathesis reaction. The combination of thermotropic LC property, the ease of film formation, and PL makes these polymers interesting for optoelectronics applications such as polymer light-emitting devices. These polymers are also ideal cationic polyelectrolytes for the preparation of multilayer assemblies with controlled morphologies at a molecular level.