Scientists in the US and Saudi Arabia have made a new family of conjugated polymers that change colour in response to changes in their redox state. The stimuli-responsive polymers are the first example where an azulene building block is incorporated into the polymer backbone through linkages in the 7-membered ring, rather than the more synthetically accessible 5-membered ring.
The polymers’ properties may be of great importance for developing new organic field-effect transistors, organic light-emitting diodes, and dye-sensitised organic solar cells.
Link to journal article
Azulene-Based Conjugated Polymers: Unique Seven-Membered Ring Connectivity Leading to Stimuli-Responsiveness
Masahito Murai , Elizabeth Amir , Roey J. Amir and Craig J. Hawker
Chem. Sci., 2012, DOI: 10.1039/c2sc20615c
