Synthetic Routes to Poly p-Phenylene Vinylenes

There are a number of synthetic strategies elaborated for preparation of PPV homo- and copolymers [20]  

SCHEME 2.1 The Wessling-Zimmerman precursor route to PPY. (From Wessling, R.A. and Zimmerman, R.G., Polyelectrolytes from Bis Sulfonium Salts, U.S. Patent 3,401,152, 1968.) 

SCHEME 2.2 Chemical vapor deposition route to PPV. (From Iwatsuki, S.,Kubo, M.,andKumeuchi, T., Chem. Lett., 20, 1971, 1991.) 

SCHEME 2.4 General synthetic route or Gilch route to solution-processable PPV derivatives (From Gilch, H.G. and Wheelwright, W.L., J. Polym. Sci. Part A, 4, 1337, 1966.) 

The molecular weight of the polymers can be controlled (from ca. 50,000 to above 1,000,000) by changing the reaction temperature and time, the solvent, the concentration of the monomer, and the amount of base [39,40]. High molecular-weight polymers and a high content of trans double bonds are the reasons for the wide usage of Gilch polymerization in the synthesis of PPV homo- and copolymers. 

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