How switching the substituent of a pyrene derivative from a methyl to a butyl affects the fluorescence response of polystyrene randomly labeled with pyrene

Abstract

A series of polystyrenes randomly labeled with 1-pyrenebutanol were prepared by copolymerizing styrene and 1-pyrenebutylacrylate yielding the CoBuE–PS series. Solutions of CoBuE–PS were prepared in nine organic solvents having viscosities ranging from 0.36 to 5.5 mPa·s and the fluorescence spectra and pyrene monomer and excimer fluorescence decays were acquired. Analysis of the fluorescence spectra yielded the IE/IM ratio, whereas analysis of the fluorescence decays with the fluorescence blob model (FBM) yielded the parameters N blobo , <kblob × Nblob> , and k blobo . These parameters were compared to those obtained with two other series of pyrene-labeled polystyrenes, which had been studied earlier, namely CoA–PS and CoE–PS where pyrene was attached to the polymer backbone via a methylamide and benzyl methylether linker, respectively. Although the parameters IE/IM, N blobo , <kblob × Nblob>, and k blobo took different values according to the specific nature of the linker connecting pyrene to the polystyrene backbone, they exhibited trends that were quite similar for all the pyrene-labeled polystyrene constructs. The excellent agreement between the parameters retrieved for the three different types of pyrene-labeled polystyrenes suggests that the FBM accounts satisfyingly for differences in the nature of the label used, while still retrieving information pertinent to the polymer of interest.