Carborane-containing poly(fluorene): response to solvent vapors and amines.

Hybrid conjugated polymers containing carborane directly bonded in the aromatic backbone repeat structure have interesting electronic bonding structures and are potentially useful new materials in organic electronics. Conjugated polymers based on o-carborane are particularly interesting for applications in sensing and detection because of the cage's unique bonding scheme and its bent geometry. Poly(fluorene) containing o-carborane displays multiple emission pathways that can be modulated through interactions with small molecules. In this paper, we report that films of poly(fluorene) with o-carborane in the backbone function as vapochromatic photoluminescent sensors toward volatile organic molecules.