Synthesis and characterization of borane-terminated poly(silole-co-germole) for the evaluation of luminescent PLED.

Codehydrocoupling (in the presence of various inorganic B, Al-hydrides) followed by borane-capping (with Ph2BCl) of 1,1-dihydrotetraphenylsilole (1) and 1,1-dihydrotetraphenylgermole (2) (9:1 mole ratio) gave electroluminescent poly(silole-co-germole)s containing borane-ends (3) in high yield. The polymerization yield and molecular weight with Selectrides increase in the order L-Selectride < N-Selectride < K-Selectride. The molecular weights with B, Al-inorganic hydrides increase in the order L-Selectride < Red-Al <N-Selectride < K-Selectride < Super-Hydride. The borane-terminated copolymer 3 emits at 522 nm and are electroluminescent at 521 nm. The fluorescence quantum yield of 3 in toluene is (1.60 +/- 0.30) x 10(-2). The emission color is green and the maximum brightness of the device is 2,753 cd/m2 with a luminous efficiency of 0.66 Im/W. The borane end group exhibited no appreciable effect on the luminescent properties of 3. The electroluminescent copolymer 3 with boranyl end group is hence a good candidate for PLED fabrication.